Hermione Granger and the return to Hogwarts
by xxKLxx
Summary: After bringing her parents back from Australia, Hermione decides to return to Hogwarts where she discovers that nothing and no one is the same. How will she make her way through 7th year without Harry and Ron by her side when a certain blonde arrives with something to confess? Hermione/Draco, Harry/Ginny, Neville/Luna.
1. After the War

Hermione sat on her bed in her bedroom looking at the letter in her hands. She had just arrived back from Australia with her parents, having removed the spell that caused them to flee from the war. She had gone over with Ron following the funerals of those who lost their lives fighting in the war. There had been so many seemingly endless days of mourning and grief, followed by a chaotic adventure around Australia with Ron and Hermione was just now feeling like she could breathe. Only, she couldn't. It felt like all the air had been sucked from her lungs as she stared at the parchment in her hands. The letter was from Hogwarts:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

 _Dear Ms. Granger,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for your seventh year. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Headmistress_

As she unpacked her belongings from the last 12 months of life on the run, she returned to pick up the letter, read it over and over and put it down again. Hermione had read and reread the letter a thousand times but it still hadn't helped her decide whether she would return or not. Given that it was the last week of July already, she had very little time to think about her decision. The last twelve months had been the most difficult in her young life and she wasn't sure that returning was the right thing for her to do. She somehow felt as though she had grown beyond the teachings of school. Certainly, her desire to earn her NEWTS was a factor in her decision making, however, she couldn't imagine returning to the same dorm she had spent much of her life in, now that things had changed.

She recalled the image of Lavender Brown during the battle and shuddered at the thought of her being savaged by Greyback. Knowing that returning to Hogwarts meant she would have to come face to face with the memories of the ones who would never return – like Lavender, Colin Creevy, the dozens of others who laid down their lives and even Snape. The last two months had been like a holiday. She had almost forgotten what she had been through over the last year but now it had returned full force.

She placed the letter carefully on her dresser again and headed downstairs to where her parents had been unpacking. They hadn't discussed what would happen when they returned home and Hermione knew it was only a matter of time.

"Hi sweetheart, how is your room?" her mother asked.

"It's great, Harry and Ginny did a good job getting the house back in order for us" she said.

It had been only through luck that Ginny had thought to visit Hermione's house while they were away, because death eaters had been through it at some point over the last year, upending everything in sight.

"That's great dear" said her mother.

Hermione paused, wondering how to broach the subject that was going to come up sooner or later.

"Mum, I was wondering if we could talk about what's going to happen next" she asked gingerly.

Mrs Granger stopped unpacking her suitcase and Mr Granger came striding into the kitchen where they stood.

"Well, I thought you might take a gap year before going off to look for work" came her mother's response.

"Well, that was the original idea" she began, "but there's been a new development" she said carefully.

She knew that her parents would hate the idea of her returning to the place they knew nothing about except for the fact that 50 people had died there almost three months ago, but somehow, she felt as though in these brief minutes, she had decided.

"Oh?" her father said.

"I got a letter from Hogwarts. They're inviting me back to complete my 7th year" she said hurriedly.

"Right… Well, you know we appreciate the other world that you belong to, but Hermione, after what you've told us, that school is not exactly the safest place to be. What are Harry and Ron going to do?" Mrs Granger said.

"I don't know what Harry and Ron are going to do. I only just got the letter when I went up to my room. I suspect they've received letters of their own, but they've also both been accepted into the Auror program at the Ministry" Hermione said.

"And you haven't?" her mum asked.

"I don't want to become an Auror. To be honest I don't know what I want to do. Maybe that's where another year of school will be helpful?" she said.

"Hermione, we only just got you back!" her dad said.

"I know, and I feel the same way. But we will still have a month before I'd need to return. I need to send my response by the 31st", she said.

"Well, you're an adult now, in your world and ours, so we can't stop you doing what you want to do" her mother said sadly.

"I don't want it to be like that though, mum, I still need you both... I…"

"You didn't need us so much when you erased our memories and sent us to the other side of the world while you and the boys galivanted all around Great Britain!" her mum said suddenly.

Hermione felt as though she had been slapped. This had been brewing ever since the hours long conversation where Hermione sat them down in Australia and told them everything about the last few years in the magical world.

"And I told you why I had to do that! This house was almost completely destroyed! If I hadn't sent you away you'd both be dead! Why can't you understand that!" Tears were now streaming down her face.

"We can't understand anything anymore Hermione! You went off to that place at the age of 11 and we feel like we haven't known you or understood your world at all since then" her mum said, anger pulsing through every word.

"Well, perhaps I should have left you both in Australia where you seemed perfectly happy!" Hermione yelled through her tears.

There was silence in their house while everyone thought about what had been said. Her mum cleared her throat and turned back to the laundry she was sorting. Hermione wondered if they had wished they could go back to being Wendell and Monica, British dentists living in Australia without a care in the world. No magical daughter causing them stress and heartache, no burden of keeping the secret of the 'other' world they knew of but couldn't tell their friends about.

"That's it, isn't it?" she said softly. "Without my existence, there were no secrets, no magical world to hide from your friends, no worrying about people finding out what your daughter is".

"You had so much potential Hermione. You left primary school with an offer to attend the best high school in the country. You were on track to maybe even becoming Prime Minister someday" her mother said. "Now you have no formal education in our world, no friends, no experiences. I don't know how to relate to you Hermione. How to tell our friends of your talents without giving away what you are" she continued.

"Fine. That's fine. I understand" she said as she reached into her pocket to take out her wand, ideas of obliviating them permanently, coursing through her mind.

"Hermione, your mother is upset. We've had a lot to take in over the last few weeks. She doesn't mean it… Do you Gene?" her father said.

Her mum just sighed and walked away. Hermione's dad pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He was barely taller than her now. Hermione fell into his embrace and sobbed into his shoulder.

"I don't want to lose you both again, but if that's how she feels, then I can make it all go away. You can both go back to your lives in Australia. You were happy there, weren't you?" she asked.

"We were happy, yes, but we both knew something was missing. We didn't know we had a daughter but we knew something wasn't right. Hermione, we will not go back to a life where we forget about you again. We can't. We love you. Your mum is just scared you'll get hurt. She wants more than anything to tell our friends all about our amazing daughter who saved the wizarding world, but we can't. As far as they know, you attend boarding school in Europe and are doing well in your studies. They have no idea that you're the brightest witch of your generation and everyone loves you". He said. She pulled away and wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"I think I will go back to school" she said with finality and she turned and headed back to her room.

"Did she really say that?" asked Harry quietly as he sat down on her bed. It had been a day since the conversation with her parents.

She nodded.

"I was going to obliviate them again there and then. I was so angry" she said.

"Really?"

"Yep. Reached for my wand and everything. I just thought, well, what if they were truly happier without me?" she said.

"They couldn't be, Hermione" he said.

"No, I know, my dad said that they knew something was missing. I know that sending them back to that life wouldn't work because they would never really be happy. I just thought that after I found them, everything would be ok again". She said, getting up and taking her Hogwarts letter from her dresser.

"Did you get one of these?" she asked him, handing him the parchment.

"I'm not going Hermione. I can't. It's not my home anymore" he said.

"That's what I thought. What about Ron? Has he thought about it?" she asked, testing out the waters with Ron.

"He's going to help George in the shop. Percy was doing his best but Ron is actually really good at it" Harry said.

"I thought he would" she said.

"He hasn't spoken about what happened in Australia" Harry said after a pause.

"And neither will I" Hermione said.

"Come on Hermione, if you can't talk to me, who can you talk to?" he said.

"No one. It's not a big deal Harry. We still care about each other, we just have to figure out what we want from life before we rush into a complicated relationship" she said, although she knew he could see straight through her.

The truth was, the relationship with Ron had been perfect. He was the perfect gentleman in Australia, kind, considerate and very caring. Hermione had fallen head over heels in love with Ron during their time away. They spend night after night in their motel room strategizing about finding her parents and brainstorming about how to reverse the spell. He had supported her through her tears as she came across dead end after dead end in the search and comforted her when they found her parents happily living a life without her. Despite all this, Hermione had been left devastated on their last night as she had attempted to move their relationship forward, physically, and Ron said he wasn't ready. She took the rejection to heart and Ron shut down completely. She went to confront her parents the following day and Ron returned home. They hadn't had contact since.

"Well, Ron is miserable too, just so you know" he said.

"Right, well, he knows where I live" she snapped. There was silence in the room while she calmed herself.

"Are you going? Back to school I mean" Harry asked her after a while.

"I am. I wasn't sure at first, but I need to finish properly. I have no idea what I want to do with my life at the moment and I think that the best place for me is back at Hogwarts" she said. "What are you going to do? Are you accepting the position in the Auror office?" she asked.

"I sent my acceptance yesterday" he said, a smile on his face. "It's what I was born to do, Merlin, it's the only thing I know how to do well!".

"Oh, I know" she said with a small laugh. She clapped her hand over her mouth and glanced towards the door. Her parents didn't know Harry had apparated into her bedroom just over an hour ago. She wondered briefly how they'd react to it. "So, Harry, how are you finding living in the adult world, now you're free to apparate anywhere and are no longer undesirable number one?"

"It's actually really great. I took Ginny to the muggle zoo the other day and we went to the cinema last night. The look on her face was priceless" he said, eyes full of young love.

"I bet she loved it" she said.

They both froze as they heard footsteps on the stairs and Harry threw his cloak over himself just as Hermione's dad entered the room.

"Tea's ready sweat heart" he said, glancing around the room. Hermione was certain he had heard the crack when Harry apparated in earlier, but if he did, he didn't say anything. She had become so much closer with her dad over the last 24 hours than ever before. It was nice to have the relationship she never felt like she had.

"Ok Dad, I'm just finishing up my acceptance note and I'll be down" she said, holding up a piece of parchment.

"I still don't understand how they can use those old-fashioned pieces of paper and ink pots" he said, shaking his head and backing out of the room, shutting the door behind himself.

"It's parchment" she called after him with a laugh.

Harry emerged a second later from under his cloak.

"He looked straight at me" he said.

"I swear he heard you apparate in earlier" she said.

'Me too. Well, I better be going then" he said.

"I'll write to you" she said as she hugged him goodbye.

 **[[AN- My first go at HP FF. Cant say that I have a lot of time to write but I am keen to get this story out. I have the first 8 chapters planned out, just a matter of writing them. I fully intend on getting the next chapter out within the next few days. Review for ideas, suggestions, errors etc]]**


	2. Back to School

Hermione found an empty carriage as she boarded the Hogwarts Express on the 1st of September. The last month had flown by faster than any other holiday ever had. She managed to repair her relationship with both of her parents and promised to return as often as she could. Now she could apparate, she could visit them on Hogsmeade weekends and at Christmas.

She took her seat and pulled out one of the books that was a requirement for her class list this year and began to read. She didn't mind that she was all alone. It was an odd feeling to be back here without Harry and Ron, but she knew now more than ever that it was the right thing to do. Everything she had wanted to do before the war had become but a distant memory and now the only thing that mattered to her was taking her NEWTS.

She had received a letter from Ron shortly after Harry's visit saying that they ought to take a break in their relationship while they got their lives on track. This was their first communication since the morning after the awkward night in the motel. She allowed her mind to drift back to that memory.

They sat snuggled on the couch in the motel room, flicking through the TV. Every now and then the channel would flicker in response to their combined magic's electrical field. They had done this night after night and allowed themselves the distraction of snogging to pass the time when the TV wasn't working. She knew this was their last night alone, as their plan was to go to her parents in the morning and she wasn't sure if they would assume she would stay with them. She had built up her courage to get to this point and as they sat snogging on the lounge, she reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off over hear head, clearly a sign that she wanted things to move forward. Her breathing was fast and ragged as she was terrified of this vulnerable feeling that was invading her senses at the time. At first, Ron allowed his hands to roam to her bare flesh and she took it as a sign that he wanted the same thing as she did. Reaching down she pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it to the side. They continued kissing until Ron quickly jumped up and moved away. Hermione was shocked at this and hugged a cushion to her body to cover herself. "What's wrong?" she asked. "This is all wrong, we can't do this, we can't, I mean, I can't do this. I'm not ready to go there Hermione" he said in a panic. She could tell she was having an effect on him by the bulge in his pants and the way he was now panting just the same as she was. "I thought you wanted this?" she asked, tears of rejection threatening to show themselves. "I'm sorry Hermione, I just can't" he said, and he left the room.

"Hermione, you're coming back!" came a voice, breaking her out of her memory. It was Luna Lovegood standing in the doorway with Neville.

"Oh, hi you two, I wasn't sure who else was coming back" she said, feeling a bit dazed.

"Maybe we should go Nev, we have interrupted Hermione in deep thought" Luna said, her voice as singsong as ever.

"No, no, please stay" Hermione said. She was actually desperate for company. Her two friends entered the compartment and Hermione couldn't help but notice they were holding hands. "What's going on here?" she asked, gesturing to their joined hands.

"Neville is quite wonderful" said Luna, placing her head on his arm in an affectionate manner.

"We just figured that with everything that has gone on, there's no point in denying ourselves the chance to be happy" said Neville, with a kiss to Luna's temple. "What about you, how is everything with Ron? We all saw how things were between you two. No one's surprised really" he said.

"Well, we actually decided to take a break while we figure out the next part of our lives" she said, hoping that it wouldn't induce more questions. She as wrong.

"Oh Hermione, why would you deny yourself the chance to be happy?" Luna asked.

"I'm not, not really. We are still close and we will most likely work things out. But I don't want our relationship to be something that stops us both doing what we want with our lives". She offered. That part was true at least. Without having to consider Ron's wishes, she could focus on school and decide what it was that she really wanted. "Anyway, enough about me, how was your break?" she asked.

"Well, daddy and I finished fixing our house and now it's better than ever" Luna said. Hermione felt a surge of guilt and began to offer an apology which Luna shut down immediately. She was grateful for that because, even though their presence had been the cause for the damage, it was Mr Lovegood who broke the taboo, causing death eaters to arrive in search of Harry, ultimately destroying the place.

"How about you Nev?" she asked.

"Well, I actually spent a lot of my time at Hogwarts helping repair the castle and grounds. It was quite difficult really because the castle sort of has a mind of its own. It wouldn't allow us to put it back to how it was. So, you might get a shock when we get there. It's really something to see" he said.

"I've read about the castle being almost like a living being, but always thought it was just a building and could be repaired like normal?" Hermione said.

"Well, that's what the repair crew thought too. We managed to get it all done, but nothing will really be the same" he said.

They continued their conversations deep into the afternoon and as night approached and they changed into their robes, they anxiously awaited their arrival at Hogsmeade station.

Hagrid waited for them at the station and greeted them in bone crushing hugs as Grawp, who had seemingly developed his IQ by 50 points since last seeing him, was ushering students to the waiting carriages.

Hermione took a carriage with Neville and Luna and was soon joined by Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan.

"Hi guys" she offered as they took their seats.

"Hermione, you're back?" Dean said.

"Yeah, thought I'd come back once more. Not sure I could live with myself if I didn't sit for the NEWTS. How about you Seamus? I thought you had finished?" she said.

"Well, last year was so messed up, McGonagall suggested we come back and take a few advanced classes so we can take our NEWTS in January with the rest of last years' 7th years" he said,

"I didn't know that was happening" said Hermione.

"Well, we were here all year, most of us, and some of us thought that it wasn't fair to do a whole year all over again just to take the exams" said Neville.

"Of course, that's completely logical" said Hermione.

They sat in silence as they approached the castle and as the lights glimmered in the distance, it was clear that things had indeed changed. The castle had reduced in size, it had seemed, and lights that had always been visible in the Gryffindor tower were gone. In fact, Gryffindor tower was gone altogether. There were additional sections of the castle in various locations and missing sections in others. Hermione gasped as she took all of this in.

"It's definitely something, isn't it?" Neville said.

"It's something alright" Hermione breathed.

They went about their usual route to the steps of the entrance hall which had been completely restored, however when they approached the great hall, they were stopped before the doors were opened.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts" came McGonagall's voice. "You will find that there have been many changes throughout our school. The first of many is the change to the seating arrangements in our great hall. Please enter and sit where you like" she said.

They entered the hall and immediately noticed a huge difference. The four long tables were gone, replaced by what seemed like a hundred round tables which had 10 chairs at each. The house colours were gone and despite a hint of maroon here and there, the colours had been changed to black, white and grey. This had the potential to be dreary, but on the contrary, it was welcoming. The floating candles lit the room brighter than ever before and the surrounding fireplaces radiated warmth around the vast room. The students filed in with gasps and sounds of wonder at the new seating arrangements. Despite the arrangements, the students tended to gravitate towards where their tables once were and took a seat at one of the round tables.

As the rest of the students filed in, the room filled with chatter and eventually the hall was full again. One by one the tabled filled up with nervous looking students who didn't seem to know where to sit. Looking around the hall she was interested to see who had come back for 7th year. There was no surprise to see that none of last years' 7th year Slytherins were back. There was no way Malfoy would be back after everything that went on. For that she was glad. She couldn't handle seeing him, after all the years of torment he had put them through.

As the talk died down, McGonagall took her position at the podium and raised her hands for silence.

"Welcome, boys and girls, to the new year at Hogwarts. As you may have noticed, there have been some changes this year. This has been made necessary by the castle itself, refusing to repair, but making it known that it is time for change. The first change you might notice is the table configuration, with the removal of the four house tables. They have been replaced by these round tables which seek to eliminate inter house competition and fighting. The second change is that the first years have not been sorted. This will not happen at Hogwarts any longer".

At this, the hall erupted into whispered conversations.

"Hush now, there are more announcements to make. The castle, as many of you are aware, suffered a significant amount of damage just four short months ago. The efforts to repair it have been met with resistance from the castle itself. No one can explain why or how it has been able to do so, but as it began to repair itself from within, the castle has shut off the four house dormitories and opened many alternate dormitories which will be occupied by members of the same year. First years will be residing in the new first year's facilities on the second floor. There is a dormitory for every year which your year prefects will show you to following tonight's feast. There are no longer house dormitories at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. House teams will exist purely for quidditch, which will continue as normal. Students will be given the opportunity to try out for the teams, which will be labelled only as the following colours: Red, Lavender, blue, and brown. These colours represent the blood that has been spilled, the blue of the sky, the soil that we all walk upon and the name of a dear student who gave her life fighting in the war" …

The hall erupted into applause, however, McGonagall was not finished. She held up her hand and continued her speech.

"I urge you all to take this opportunity to forge new relationships and embrace these new challenges. Now, time for talk has finished, enjoy the feast". At this, the tables filled with the usual foods and everyone tucked in.

"I wonder what the dorms will look like" said Dean who had been sitting across from Hermione.

"They're loads better than they used to be. The castle really stepped it up" said Neville.

"That's right you were here helping repair the castle. Where are our dorms?" asked Dean.

"We're on the 7th floor" said Neville.

They ate while discussing their time away, some talking about the year that has been, others talking only about the last few months. Hermione sat mostly in silence listening to people's various adventures. She knew a bit about Deans travels, remembering the time they spent at Shell Cottage after escaping from Malfoy Manor but was still intrigued to listen intently as he told his story to those who were willing to listen. It seemed that the theme of the evening was to convey to others around them the details of their year and Hermione was, for once, not thinking about everything that she had experienced. She had been having nightmares and intrusive thoughts for the last few weeks and it was nice to be distracted by the impending school year.

As the plates cleared themselves and people waited for further instructions, McGonagall took the opportunity to relay the final pieces of information of the evening.

"Attention please…" she began, waiting for the chatter to die down. "Soon, the heads of years will lead you all to your new dormitories where you will find all your belongings. Those of you who have returned for what would be your 8th year, will have your own living arrangements in separate dormitories. Mr Longbottom, please lead your fellow students to the 7th floor".

At that, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Terry Boot and Michael Corner got up from where they were sitting and headed towards the entrance hall. They made their way through the castle and to the 7th floor where they found a large door with brass handle on it. Neville tapped it once with his wand and the door swung open.

The 8 students entered the round room which had a fire burning in a fire pit in the middle of the room. There were soft couches and chairs to one side of the room and desks on the other. In between, on the walls were 9 doors which had trunks placed outside of them. Hermione immediately saw her own trunk and headed for the first door to her left, while the others found their own doors.

"Single rooms?" Hermione asked Neville.

"Yeah, we tried to make it like it was before but every day we'd come back and see that the old dorms were gone and these were here. Quite nice really. The other years mostly share rooms with 4 others" he said.

"Oh look" squealed Susan, "we have our own bathrooms!" she said.

Hermione was both impressed and mortified. Why were they receiving special treatment? She wasn't complaining, but it would take a lot of getting used to. She missed the old dorms already. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't the dorms that she missed, but the people in the dorms.

Hermione's room was quite plain, with hints of her Gryffindor heritage still lingering on the bed curtains. She had a desk of her own in her room and bathroom which was shared with the room next to her. Somehow, she had a window that included a lovely little bench seat that she knew she would be utilising quite a lot in the coming months.

Before long, the group had settled into the common room and were getting cosy by the fire. Hermione had joined them initially but retired to bed before long.

She was running through the forbidden forest as fast as she could. There was something chasing her but she couldn't see what it was. She reached for her wand and cast a spell behind her but it didn't work. Somehow her magic was gone. She tried a simple Lumos spell as she continued to run from the invisible entity that chased her, however it was of no use. Her magic or her wand was not working. She ran faster still but tripped on a log. As she laid on the cold hard ground she looked up and saw Bellatrix Lestrange glaring down at her through headily lidded eyes. Her hair was as wild as she was she had her wand pointed directly at her throat. "I'm going to enjoy this" she said, ripping Hermione's sleeve up to reveal the still pink scar, outlining the word 'mudblood'.

Hermione's screams woke her from her nightmare. She had become used to this by now, it seemed nightmares were a common occurrence for her these days. They usually involved memories of what had happened in the past, combined with the scariest of circumstances. Usually someone was hurting her or someone she cared about. She climbed out of bed and looked to the window. The sun was just peaking out over the horizon and she felt that there was no point in going back to sleep. She made her way to her desk and tested her wand, making sure that she could still perform a Lumos spell. The spell worked, not that she didn't expect it to, but the dream had scared her. She hadn't dreamt about losing her magic till now and it was not a feeling she was comfortable with.

She sat down, pulled out some parchment and quill and started writing a letter to Harry. She told him all about her first night in the new dorm and briefly mentioned her nightmares. She pleaded with him not to worry and assured hm she would see madame Pomfrey as soon as possible for some dreamless sleep potion.

At 7 o'clock, she had finished a rather lengthy letter to Harry and made her way to the owlery. She attached the letter to the nearest friendly looking owl, sending it on its way and headed down to breakfast. Even though she had seen it last night, the round tables still came as a shock to her when she walked in. As she sat down, Ginny came and sat with her.

"Hey, I didn't see you last night" she said.

"I know, I looked for you but just sat at the first table I could find" Hermione answered.

"I was made head of my year so I had to show everyone the new dorms. I'm sharing with Luna in a double. How about you?"

"I have my own room with a shared bathroom, but no one is in the room next to me" Hermione said.

"Your own room? Excellent! I suppose its because you're all of age now so you're expected to be responsible" said Ginny.

"You're 17 now too Gin" said Hermione.

"Yeah, but you've been living as an adult now for so long."

"Yeah, sharing a dodgy old tent with Harry and Ron and living of mushroom soup hardly counts as being independent… I'm not complaining of course, I am thrilled to have my own room. It helps" said Hermione sadly.

"Do you miss it?" asked Ginny after helping herself to a stack of pancakes and some bacon.

"Sometimes" Hermione said.

The two girls sat eating in silence for a while until they were interrupted by a new professor.

"Hi there" said the woman who was standing beside them.

"Oh, hello, you must be our new professor?" said Hermione.

"I am indeed, I am the new Defence against the dark arts professor, Amanda Elliot" she said.

"Oh…" said Ginny and the two girls looked to each other.

"Is everything ok?" asked the new professor.

"Well, you see, that position was cursed by Voldemort" said Hermione.

"Good thing for me, I'm skilled at defence spells. I had it thoroughly checked and when Voldemort was defeated, the curse was lifted" she said. "So, what are your names?" she asked.

"Ginny Weasley" said Ginny.

"Hermione Granger" said Hermione.

"Oh my, well aren't you two quite the pair" said the professor as she took a seat next to Ginny.

"Excuse me?" said Hermione, feeling quite awkward.

"I was hoping I'd run into you at some point, given you're not taking defence this year, but to meet you on my first day…" she began.

"Not taking defence?" asked Hermione.

"No, here, I have your timetables…" she said as she flicked through a stack of parchments in her arms. "Hermione, you have been awarded NEWTS in defence, potions, transfiguration, charms and muggle studies based on life experience, so your timetable has been adjusted accordingly" she said as she passed the timetables to the girls.

Hermione looked at hers. She was going to have a lot of free time it seemed. She was going to be having Herbology first up on a Mondays with a break in the middle of the day, followed by History of magic in the afternoons. Tuesdays she would have Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy before lunch, Wednesdays were free and Thursdays she had a day of Astronomy, Alchemy and ancient runes, with nothing on Fridays.

"Wow, that's a great timetable" said Ginny, looking over her shoulder. "Here, look at mine".

"Oh, we have some classes together" said Hermione.

The girls finished up their breakfast before the bell for the first subject of the school year rang.

"Feels just like old times, hey Hermione" said Ginny as they headed down to the newly repaired greenhouses.

"Hmm, no, not really" said Hermione sadly.

 **A/N - Please review - comments, feedback, suggestions, review... All welcome.**


	3. The New Student

The first week went by rather quickly. Herbology was rather exciting, with a project to grow a dangerous plant from seed to adulthood in 6 months. The breaks in the middle of the school day was welcomed, as Hermione struggled to adjust to the new routine.

History of magic was proving to be difficult as the quiet made way for Hermione's intrusive thoughts to enter her mind. She tried as hard as she could to pay attention but memories of being caught by snatchers and dragged off to Malfoy Manor were plaguing her mind. She would unconsciously rub the scar on her arm whenever she thought about these things and shudder as she realised what she was doing. She refused to even look at the scar that had refused to fully heal. It was like a portal into her memories and she suffered daily because of it.

Her favourite subject by now was Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. The subject had been meticulously planned out by Hagrid who had taken it upon himself prove to the wizarding world that he could do something and do it well. While the creatures were still quite dangerous, the precautions that were now in place were actually thought out. Hermione spent her first free Wednesday sitting by the great black lake, trying out some mindfulness techniques and doing some homework. She found it almost impossible to clear her mind, although there were a few moments here and there that she was able to appreciate her surroundings for their beauty and majesty.

On Thursday morning, Hermione was eating breakfast when a marvellous black owl that had tinges of deep blue through its feathers, delivered a letter.

 _Hermione,  
Sorry this letter will be short. I got your letter and fully intend on replying properly. Can we meet at Hogsmeade on your first available day? I have loads to tell you. I have been sitting as an expert witness in the courts and have loads to tell you. The Malfoys are on trial tomorrow and the rumours are that Luscious will be staying in Azkaban for good.  
Let me know with a school owl when you have the dates.  
Harry.  
p.s- Do you like my owl? His name is Otto. _

She put the letter in her bag, wondering about all the things Harry could be up to. She took a moment to think abut what she might have been doing at this point if he hadn't returned to Hogwarts. So far, she was still in two minds as to whether it was the right thing to do. She did feel as thought she had grown beyond the walls of the castle but knew more than anything that she wanted to finish her schooling.

As Thursday turned into Friday and Friday merged with the weekend, Hermione accompanied Ginny down to the quidditch pitch for try outs. She watched as the groups of students awkwardly tried to formulate themselves into for colour groups based on the new system. Eventually, the teams were chosen and Ginny was playing seeker for the Lavender team with Dean and some younger students. Madame Hooch had chosen the teams based on skill, dividing the best players amongst the four teams.

Over the weekend, the students took the opportunity to gather in groups, discussing at length their lives and how things had changed for them. Hermione found that people were hesitant to ask her about her year. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, she hated the thought of reliving it over and over again, however, some part of her thought that she needed to talk to someone about what had happened. She just didn't know who that person could be.

Neville and Luna were spending loads of time together and Ginny was flying every chance she could. There weren't many people in the castle who she felt like she could really talk to about her experiences, so she mostly kept her thoughts to herself. She really missed Harry and Ron in these times.

She thought about her relationship with Ron and wondered how things would pan out between the two of them. She loved him more than anything and wanted desperately to be with him but couldn't get past the feelings of rejection he created when she attempted to progress their relationship. Perhaps, once he was settled into the shop and she was into a routine at Hogwarts, they could meet up and talk about what was going on for them and how to move forward. They had spent so many years fighting their feelings, refusing to acknowledge everything that existed between them, it felt like a betrayal to themselves to not allow it to continue.

On Sunday night she was sitting in one of the cosy armchairs taking notes about the history of American Wizards from a text book, when the room suddenly fell silent. She thought she had blacked out for a moment but when she looked up, a figure was standing in the doorway of the dormitory common room. At first, she struggled to make out who it was, but as soon as she saw the platinum blonde hair and pointed chin, she immediately knew that the person who had arrived was Draco Malfoy.

As he entered the dorm and strode towards the vacant room beside Hermione's, she slammed her book down on the table and hurried to the exit. She was furious. This was the last thing she needed while she was trying to figure out her life. He had played such a pivotal role in antagonising her throughout the last 7 years the last thing she wanted right now was for hm to make her last year here a living hell. She found herself at the bottom of the stone Gargoyle before she knew it and it sprang to life without requiring a password, somehow understanding the urgency in her desire to speak to the headmaster.

She knocked on the door rather forcefully and Professor McGonagall called for her to enter. Her words were out before she had a chance to think about what she wanted to say and she was forced to sit and relax before attempting to convey what she needed to say.

"Miss Granger, please calmly tell me what it is that is bothering you so" said McGonagall.

"How could you let Malfoy return to Hogwarts? He's a death eater and an inhuman jerk!" she demanded.

"Miss Granger, I can assure you that Mr Malfoy has been through quite a tough procedure to ensure the safety of the other students at this school" she said.

"But why is he in _my_ dorm?" she asked.

"That is the dormitory where the students from your year are residing" she said.

"Don't you know all the things he's done to me over the years? Now he's in the room right next door" she said, feeling somewhat hysterical.

"Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy is here on ministry orders and he is under strict instruction to behave himself in order to avoid prison. That is all I am permitted to tell you. There is nothing I can do. You will have to learn to make do… Now please, if you don't mind, I have things to be getting on with" said McGonagall with finality.

Hermione left the office, having achieved nothing than creating more of a sense of hysteria for herself. She paced through various corridors and found herself heading up to the 5th floor portrait of the fat lady before she realised where she was.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have come here by accident" said Hermione as the lady looked surprised to see her.

"That's perfectly fine my dear. Tell me, what troubles you?" the lady in the portrait asked.

"I just don't know if this is the place where I am supposed to be. I just don't know why I've come back here" said Hermione, tears threatening to spill.

"My dear, that's perfectly normal, especially after everything that has happened over the last few years" the lady said.

"What do I do then?" she asked, feeling vulnerable.

"You go back to where it is you've run from, face your challenges head on and don't let them beat you. You've accomplished so much over the years my dear. Don't you dare give in now!" she said.

At this, Hermione pulled her shoulders back, smoothed down her hair and planted a fake smile on her face.

"You know what, you're right. I have spent years running from the things that threaten me and I'm not going to let that prat spoil my chance to finish my education" she said. "Thank you so much" she finished as she turned to leave.

"Don't be a stranger now" the lady said as Hermione turned and left the corridor.

Several minutes later, Hermione found herself tapping her wand on the door to the dorm, entering when it swung to let her in. Malfoy was no where in sight but the luggage he had brought with him was no longer sitting in the common room. Neville and Dean, who were playing exploding snap, looked up when Hermione entered.

"Hermione…" said Neville, gesturing for her to come over to where they sat.

She sat on the seat next to Neville and looked to him with a slightly manic smile on her face.

"Is everything ok? It's a big deal having Malfoy here" said Dean.

"I wasn't ok actually. But I think things are going to be ok. I just need to focus on getting through the year and I won't have to deal with him ever again" she said.

"You're a bigger person than I am if you manage to get through without hexing him. I for one can't forget how he was able to turn a blind eye when his family had me locked in the cellar" said Dean.

"If I let him ruin my chances at finishing Hogwarts on a happy note, he wins. That's all there is to it. I'm not going to let Draco Malfoy win!" She said confidently.

"Don't worry about that, Granger…" came a voice from across the room. Everyone stopped and looked up. Malfoy was standing, leaning against the doorframe of his room, a blank look on his face. He had on his trademark black suit, clearly not much had changed, she thought. "I'm only here because I have to be." he said before he headed for the door and out into the castle.

Everyone sort of stared at the door he had just walked out of before going back to what they were doing. Hermione heading to the table where she had sat earlier, gathered her things and headed to her room.

She spent the remainder of the night sitting on the window seat in her room reading, trying not to think about blank look that Malfoy had worn on his face. Almost like he had given up on caring about things. Although he still wore the suit that he had previously worn to intimidate people around him, he no longer carried himself in a way that gave off a sense of authority. She found herself briefly wondering what his life had become since Voldemort's downfall, but dragged herself out of it when, at almost 10pm, a black owl appeared almost out of nowhere, scaring her almost senseless.

"Otto!" She said as he landed on the ledge and lifted his leg, showing a letter that Hermione assumed was from Harry.

The letter appeared to be written quickly.

 _Hermione,  
Malfoy is coming to Hogwarts. Forced by the Ministry under strict instruction not to cause trouble.  
Sorry for the late notice. Hope you get this in time  
Harry_

Hermione laughed at this.

"Yep, just a bit late Harry, but thanks" she muttered to herself.

She gave Otto some owl treats she had in her trunk and her flew off into the night.

She went to bed that night wondering how things would now change, considering Malfoy was living in the room right next door and sharing a bathroom.

"Yep. This will not be awkward at all" she muttered to herself with a giggle, before shutting her eyes and drifting into a troubled sleep.

 **A/N - Please review. Comments, mistakes, suggestions... All welcome. May not update for a few days. Loving this story so far, just quietly... Will try as hard as I can to keep the flow. Thanks peeps :-)**


	4. New Beginnings

Hermione woke late the next day after a night of restless sleep. Her nightmares were continuing and she would often find herself waking with tears streaming down her face. Now it was almost class time and she hurried to get out of bed and throw on some clothes. The previous days' worries had been replaced by events from her dreams. Her magicless existence and constant threats of something chasing her. The words carved into her skin burning like a red-hot poker. Usually when she woke she was clutching her arm, screaming into her pillow or calling for help into nothingness. She was grateful that she had her own room, because she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have Susan or Neville enter her room to calm her nightmares.

She ran from her room, clutching her bag, completely distracted by her thoughts and ran head on into Malfoy who was casually heading for the door.

"Oh, I'm sorr…. Oh, its you" she said, as she looked up into Draco's face.

"By all means, Granger, carry on" he said gesturing for her to continue out the door.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she asked.

"Didn't you hear? I go here now" he said with a strange smile. Clearly, he wasn't happy about it.

"Well don't think I'm going to let you torment me this year" she snapped.

"Like I said last night, I just want to do what I have to do and get away from all of this" he said.

"Well, don't be offended if I don't believe you" she said as she hurried towards the greenhouses.

After a while, she realised Malfoy seemed to be following her.

"Why are you following me?" she asked.

"I have herbology first" he said.

"Perfect" she said as she approached the glass doors to greenhouse six.

"Oh, miss Granger, how lovely of you to join us" said Professor Sprout.

"Sorry professor, I overslept" Hermione apologised.

"And mister Malfoy, a week late but here, nevertheless. You two will be partnered together as the rest of the class has already paired off. Get a pot of soil and prepare to plant your seeds" Professor sprout said.

Hermione groaned as she shot daggers at Malfoy. He just rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying class, this is the first day of our year long project, where you will all grow this plant into adulthood. The first group to correctly identify the plant will receive a reward. The terms of the assignment are listed on the board behind me" she said.

Hermione took out a piece of parchment and a quill and quickly wrote down the assignment instructions. It wasn't going to be easy, especially if she had to be working with Malfoy. On the plus side, she did know that he was at least somewhat intelligent. He was usually close behind her in all his subjects.

Turning to Malfoy, she noticed he had already retrieved the pot of soil. They worked in silence for most of the lesson, following the instructions of the professor. Hermione was quite surprised to notice that they actually worked quite well together. There wasn't even a need to speak, they just vibed off each other. With only minutes before the bell, Malfoy turned to her.

"I don't like this any more than you do but we need to work together" he said.

"What do you propose?" she asked, not looking at him.

He pulled her notes to him and duplicated them with his wand.

"You take the top section and I'll take the bottom" he suggested.

"No way, then I'll get stuck with the work and you'll probably drop out before it gets to your turn... I'll take the first part, you take the second and we'll alternate" she said, glancing up at him briefly. She noticed that he no longer had an arrogance about him. She perhaps lingered a fraction of a second too long because she was suddenly struck with how much his features had changed over the last year and a small smile came over his face. She looked back to their work station and carefully cleared the mess with a wave of her wand as the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson.

"Don't tell me you have history of magic this afternoon?" she asked as they both got up to leave. He just looked at her and said nothing before striding out of the greenhouse and across the grounds into the castle.

She went and sat by the lake to bide time till lunch and her next class, thinking about the events of the morning. She had run head on into Malfoy and he hadn't said a word about it. He didn't complain when he realised they were heading to the same class and when they were paired together, he didn't utter a single word. She found herself becoming intrigued at these thoughts. It was strange for him not to be insulting her at every turn. She wondered briefly how the events of the last year had affected him. She didn't like to think about him, so instead, she pulled out her history text book and read until the bell rang, signalling lunchtime.

The next week went by really slowly. The free time that she had was not as productive as she had thought. A lot of her time was spent by the lake, trying to rid herself of thoughts similar to those that were continuing to keep her awake through the night. She had found a tree that was growing by a ledge which looked out to the best parts of the lake. No one else had come here and she claimed the spot as her own. It was secluded enough so that if she didn't want to be seen, she didn't have to. She was spending a lot of her time alone, mainly because Ginny, Neville and Luna still had full class timetables. She had almost all of her classes with Malfoy, which annoyed her greatly. He also had some of the same classes off as she did. After all, he spent much of the previous year in school, attending classes while most of the others hid out in the room of requirement. When she wasn't thinking about the traumas of the last year, she was wondering what Malfoy's deal was. He was so different now to how she had come to know him to be that she could have sworn he was a completely different person. She noticed how he kept purely to himself and didn't associate with anyone unless he had to. There were none of the old Slytherin's back for their 7th year, which might have explained his friendlessness.

By the Wednesday morning of the third week at Hogwarts, the dates for the Hogsmeade visits were released. There was one coming up on the following weekend and she immediately went to owl Harry and let him know. His reply came that same afternoon, asking her to meet him at the three broomsticks for lunch on Saturday. She sent back with Otto saying she would see him at 11:30.

Late Wednesday night, Hermione was reading in the common room by herself when Malfoy entered. He usually spent his time in his room, choosing to pretend no one else existed, however, this time he sat down on one of the couches near to where Hermione sat and opened what she saw to be an Alchemy text book. It was quite late and she wondered for a moment where he had been. When he looked up at her, she realised she had been watching him and quickly looked back down at her book, feeling her face turn bright red. After a while, she looked back up and noticed the way his face looked when he was concentrating. There was no angst on his face, no angry lines or air of arrogance. He was so focused on what he was reading and she was so focused on him that when he looked up, she was busted again.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing" she said, embarrassed, but trying not to show it.

"Why are you looking at me?" he asked, a small smirk on his lips. There was a hint of his former self. That arrogance. ' _Typical that he would think I am staring at him'_ she thought.

"I was looking to see which book you were reading. That isn't on our reading list" she said, quickly having come up with the excuse.

"Its not" he said, looking back down at the book.

They both continued reading in silence until Hermione got up and silently went to her room. She heard him shut his door not a minute after she did and she briefly wondered if he had been waiting or her to go to bed before he did.

The rest of the week was uneventful but went by slowly as she looked forward to Saturday. When the morning of Saturday eventually rolled around, she had a leisurely sleep in and then headed down to the entrance hall. She lined up with the rest of the students to be marked off for Hogsmeade and walked to the small village. She had arrived early for their meeting purposely to walk down the main street. The last time she had come to Hogsmeade village, she was with Harry and Ron and was rescued from the clutches of death eaters by Aberforth Dumbledore. Today was a completely different experience. For one, it was day time and two, she was no longer in fear for her life.

She took time to browse through the shops before making her way to the three broomsticks to meet Harry. She was almost there when she heard Harry call to her from across the road. She greeted him with a hug and they went inside together.

Harry ordered them both a butterbeer and they took a table at the back of the room.

"So how has Auror training been? Tell me everything" she said, keen to hear about something outside of the bubble of Hogwarts.

"Well, it's mostly just paperwork type stuff at the moment. Reading reports, understanding the lingo, that kind of stuff" he said.

"Oh, well, that would still be interesting wouldn't it?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, real exciting" he said sarcastically. They both laughed.

"So, tell me about being a witness for the Wizengamot" Hermione said.

"It's been really interesting. I gave evidence against around 15 death eaters which put them away for a long time" he said. She was dancing around the idea of finding out information about Malfoy. She wanted to know what happened with his family but didn't want to seem like she was interested.

"You said the Malfoys were on trial. How did that go?" she asked coyly.

"Well, Luscious was sentenced to life in Azkaban which was unanimous. Given his escape and subsequent activities there was no way he was getting off. Narcissa was originally sentenced to time but I made a special request to have her do time at home" he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"She risked everything by telling Voldemort that I was dead when I wasn't" he said.

"But she only did that to get to her son, surely you know that" Hermione said.

"I do, but there was something about her. She was terrified that night Hermione" he said. It wasn't new information. They had debated this issue in the days that followed Voldemort's defeat and could never come to an agreement.

"I guess I just don't know because I wasn't there" she said. "So, what about Draco then? Why did he get off so leniently?" she asked.

"He didn't. He was also sentenced to Azkaban but they changed their minds at the last minute and said that as long as he finished Hogwarts and changed his life around, he would get let off a prison sentence" Harry said. It made sense to Hermione now. He hadn't really changed. He was attending Hogwarts against his will and pretending like he had changed so he could be free to continue being a prat as soon as he graduated.

"Not much of a punishment if you ask me. He gets to finish school and then he's free" she said.

"I don't think you understand how much things have changed Hermione. People are so different now. Those who were under the imperious curse and those who acted purely out of fear have been given light sentences or home detention. Everything comes down to fear" he said.

"We were petrified too Harry and we didn't go around killing people" she snapped. She wondered briefly why she was fighting him on this. "I'm sorry, I guess I just feel like I'm so far out of the loop" she said.

"I'm sorry, I should be keeping in contact more" he said.

"I just don't really have anyone to talk to at Hogwarts, you know" she said.

"Yeah, Ginny said you've been keeping to yourself a lot" he said.

"Well, everyone is so busy with extra classes and quidditch, I tend to just do my own thing" she said.

Their conversation turned to things like the weather, her classes and briefly to Ron before Hermione attempted to change the subject.

"Why don't you want to talk about Ron?" Harry asked. "What did he do to you?" he demanded.

"Nothing. He didn't do anything to me. That's the problem. I wanted to, he didn't. That's it" she said. She couldn't believe she told him.

"Surely there's more to it?" Harry asked.

"What has Ron told you?"

"Nothing. He tells me nothing Hermione. He said you're taking a break to do your own thing and figure out your lives" he said.

"That was the excuse so I didn't have to tell anybody that he wouldn't sleep with me" Hermione said before realising she may have overstepped the mark.

"He's a male, Hermione. Surely there's got to be more to it" Harry suggested.

"If there is Harry, I have no idea. We were snogging, I tried to take it further and he ran away. The next day he was gone and we have barely spoken since" she said. "He assures me that everything is ok, but I haven't seen him since Australia and have only written to him a handful of times since then. His replies are vague and talk about things like the weather" she said. Finally getting out the heartache she had been bottling up for months.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise it was that bad" he said. "I'll kill him for hurting you" he said.

"Don't bother Harry. He's as much your best friend as I am. For all I know, I did something to hurt him too" she said. "How about we go for a walk?" she said.

"Oh…" he began, looking at the clock behind him. "I'm supposed to be meeting Ginny at 12:30" he said.

"Right, so lunch next time then?" she asked, trying to reign in her anger. Sure, he was certainly within his rights to see his girlfriend but why did he have to see them separately? Why did he originally ask to meet for lunch and now change his mind? She would never know, because at that moment he stood up and headed for the door.

"Oh, ok sure" she said, and followed him out onto the street.

"Well, bye Hermione. I'll see you at Christmas, wont I?" Harry asked.

"mm, yeah maybe" she said. At this rate, she wasn't sure if she wanted to see anybody. They briefly hugged before parting ways and Hermione headed back to the school.

She walked slowly to her dormitory and after tapping her wand twice, she entered and slammed the door behind her. She hadn't noticed anyone there and allowed herself to feel all of the emotions that had been threatening to pour out of her.

"What's got you so upset, Granger?" came a voice from an armchair in the corner.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, wiping the tears away.

Malfoy stood up and walked over to where she stood. He was standing close to her. Too close. She held her breath as the smell of his cologne came over her senses. He smelt good. He reached to the shelf behind where she stood and handed her a tissue. She let out the breath she had been holding and wiped her eyes as he sat back down.

"I go here now, remember?" he said with a strange smile she hadn't seen before. It was intriguing. She sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the room.

"I meant, why aren't you at Hogsmeade?" she said.

He held up a book on Astronomy.

"I wanted to do some reading" he said.

"Funny. Since when have you turned down a chance to get out of here?" she asked.

"Since I was placed under school arrest" he said flatly.

"Oh…" she replied.

There was silence for a while before he spoke.

"You still didn't answer my question Granger and I think I've answered all of yours"

She looked to him, tying to figure him out. Why was he interested anyway? Should she entertain his enquiry? He would always be a prat to her but at this moment he was looking at her with a look of… what was that? Concern?

"Its just been a long year" she said.

"Don't I know it" he said quietly with a sigh. This angered her slightly.

"Well, while you were, safe cosy and warm in your bed you had no idea about the things I went through with Harry and Ron to save the wizarding world" she snapped.

"I don't doubt it Granger" he said. "But I surely wasn't as safe as you would believe" he said. He was being vulnerable. Why? She decided to entertain his lie of conversation. After all, apart from Harry, he was the first person she had spoken to in any detail in weeks.

"Tell me then" she said, looking at his face that had now become serious. He had changed from the boy who bullied her all through school and was now a man siting across from her, handsome if she was honest with herself, about to open up to her.

"You wouldn't handle it" he said.

"Try me. I'm a big girl" she said.

"I…" he began and was interrupted by Neville and Luna entering the door to the dorm. At this, he got up and headed to his room. Hermione remained seated and smiled sweetly at Neville and Luna who were staring at where Malfoy had just been sitting.

"Hey Hermione" Neville said.

"How are you both?" she asked trying to avoid any conversations that questioned why she had been sitting civilly with Draco Malfoy just a minute before.

"We're fantastic" said Luna. "We didn't know anyone would be up here" she said.

"No, well, I did go and see Harry for lunch but he was meeting Ginny and I didn't want to interrupt" she said.

The three of them remained where they were in silence for a while before Hermione stood up and headed to her room.

"I'll leave you to it then" she said, hand on her door handle.

"See you" said Neville.

Hermione retreated to her room here she felt the loneliness creep upon her. She had only managed a short conversation with Malfoy, but it was the most she had connected with another person in months. She went into the bathroom and washed her face before going and laying on her bed.

She was hungry but very soon, the tiredness she felt from her emotions overcame her and she fell asleep.

She was laying on the floor in Malfoy manor and Bellatrix was leaning over her, silver dagger in her hands. She was threatening her and demanding information about Harry. Hermione refused to tell her anything and Bellatrix began cutting into her skin. As Hermione screamed, she looked up and saw the face of Malfoy standing by watching. He was saying something to her but she couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Granger, Granger!" he said. She opened her eyes and saw that he was standing over her. She sat up in shock and looked around. It was now dark outside and she hadn't remembered falling asleep.

"What are you doing in my room?" she demanded, wiping tears from her face.

"You were screaming" he said. He looked worried.

"Well, it happens sometimes" she said. "Why do you care anyway? You didn't care last time you heard me screaming" she said bitterly, having just relived the event in his home that he had witnessed himself.

"I…" he began. He seemed lost for words. Why?

"Don't worry about it Malfoy, just ignore it next time" she said.

He paused by the side of her bed, where he had been standing since she woke up.

"Do you think it doesn't bother me?" he asked. "You think I don't relive that day too?" he questioned.

She was silent.

"I replay that day in my head over and over again. Don't ever think that I enjoyed _any_ of that!" he said as he stormed out through their adjoining bathroom.

She laid there in silence thinking over what had happened. She found herself strangely intrigued by his outburst. Maybe he _was_ different?

She managed to get back to sleep and found herself at the great hall early the next morning having breakfast with Ginny telling her all about her day with Harry.

"We apparated to the flat that he has rented and spent all day lounging around after quite a bit of snogging" she said with a giggle.

"That sounds great Gin" said Hermione, distracted by thoughts of Malfoy.

"Come on Hermione, don't tell me you and Ron never went there" she said, teasingly.

"No, actually we didn't. Not all the way anyway" she said.

Ginny seemed surprised.

Hermione gulped down her pumpkin juice as she saw Malfoy enter the hall, grab some toast and leave again.

"Look Gin, I have a few things I have to do. I'll catch you later?" she said and hurried off without waiting for an answer.

She caught up with Draco as he headed out towards the forest, eating his toast as he walked.

"Hey!" she called. He turned around and when he saw her, he slowed but kept walking. She caught up to him just as he entered the tree line.

"What did you mean last night? When you said what you said" she asked.

"Forget it" he said.

"Right. So, you only want to talk on your terms" she hissed.

"I shouldn't have come in" he said. "Sorry" he added.

She wasn't sure where he was going or if she should follow but she was curious so followed him until he came to a familiar patch of forest.

"This is where the Thestrals live" she said.

"I'm behind in Care of Magical Creatures" he said.

"What did you mean yesterday when you said you weren't safe?" she asked him after a while.

He didn't look at her, instead kicked at a rock on the ground.

"The last year hasn't exactly been a walk in the park for me either, that's all" he said.

"But you still had your family, your friend" she said.

He turned t her now, his face intense.

"Every single day I woke in fear that that would be the day _he_ would kill them all. You don't understand what its like being near him every day. He did the most horrible things. Things no one wants to see. Things that would make your precious Potter cringe" he said. She could tell he was on the verge of tears and she didn't want to push him to that point.

"Well, I spent months living in an old tent camping out in the snow with Harry and Ron. I've definitely seen things that make me cringe" she said, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked into her eyes. Grey to brown, staring into her. If she wasn't so sure she had mastered enough occlumency to know if someone was trying to read her mind, she would swear he was trying to sift through her every thought right now.

He slowly lifted the sleeve of his shirt and showed her his fading dark mark.

"Have you ever seen one of these?" she demanded.

"Yeah, I have. Now tell me, Malfoy, have you ever seen one of these?" she asked in return, pulling up the sleeve of her own shirt and showing the red scar on her arm that still clear as day displayed the word 'mudblood'. He walked over to her and took her wrist in his hand. His touch was cool but not cold. The feel of his skin was not unwelcome and she allowed him to inspect his aunt's handiwork.

"This is wrong. Its so wrong. I don't believe in that anymore. You must know that. I don't feel that way anymore" he was basically begging her, now looking back into her eyes. "I wanted to die that day, hearing your screams. That's when I changed. I had to keep up the pretence but seeing that teacher killed in front of my face and you being tortured like that…. Granger… I can't believe in that anymore" he said.

Hermione was stunned. Speechless.

"For the longest time I have appreciated how smart you are. I was so caught up in the beliefs I was brought up with, that I didn't think there was another way. When Voldemort returned I had no choice but to follow. I always knew that deep down I didn't truly believe it. That's why I was so adamant in saying all those things I said over the years. I was trying to convince myself as much as anyone else that being so called pure blood was the only way to be and anything less was not worthy" he continued. She was just listening now, as he spilled out his deepest secrets.

"I truly am sorry for what my family's beliefs have done to you Granger" he said, looking back down at the letters engraved on her arm.

"None of that matters now" she said. "Not really".

"But it does" he said.

"How?" she asked.

"Because if I ever told you how I truly felt, you'd never speak to me again" he said.

"I would think that you would appreciate that thought" she said.

"Aren't you listening?" he asked.

"I am. You're sorry, you didn't mean it, it wasn't your fault. I get it" she said. A vague repeat of what she felt he was trying to say.

"That's only half of it" he said, now almost begging her to understand what he was tying to say.

"Granger… Hermione…" he said, now holding her hand in both of his. "I have been in love with you since second year" he said.

This was not something she was expecting.

 **A/N - Please review. May be some time between chapters from here on but i will try my best.**


	5. Confessions

Chapter 5 - Confessions

"Granger… Hermione…" he said, now holding her hand in both of his. "I have been in love with you since second year" he said.

This was not something she was expecting.

He looked into his face, testing out his expressions for any sign that would indicate he was playing games with her. For all that she could tell, he seemed sincere.

"You… you can't be serious" she said. Not knowing what to say.

"Sadly, for me, I am" he said, still holding onto her hand.

"But you've been rotten to me for years!" she said, still trying to adjust to the idea of Malfoy having feelings, let alone ones that made her the object of his thoughts in any way that wasn't negative.

"And I said that I'm sorry" he said.

They stood in silence for what felt like forever. Hermione had no idea how to respond to the things he was saying. Part of her would always hate him for the things he did to her over the last 7 years, but a small part actually felt sorry for him. He had been brought up to believe that muggle borns were scum. Was it really his fault that he acted upon the only information he had available to him? But how could he possibly say that he had been in love with her for six years, while the whole time he had been horrible to her?

"So, what is it that you're expecting me to say?" she asked, pulling her hand away and shoving her sleeve back down.

"Nothing, something. I don't know" he said, turning away from here. "I shouldn't have said anything" he said.

"No, probably not" she said, as she turned to leave.

"Just forget that I said anything, ok?" he said.

"I really doubt that will happen" she said as she left him standing in the clearing with his back to her.

She Started making her way back to the castle but stopped when she got to the edge of the forest. It was still early on Sunday morning so she decided to go and sit down by the lake under her favourite tree.

As she walked, she thought about the things Malfoy had said. One thing in particular stood out in her mind. He had said her name. He called her Hermione. It sounded foreign at the time but when she replayed it over again in her mind, she found herself wanting nothing more than to hear him say it again and again. She never realised before how soft his voice was. The way he articulated her name was unlike anyone had ever done before. She had reached the tree and sat down on the exposed root with her feet dangling over the edge of the low cliff.

She allowed herself to consider all the options available to her at the moment. She could tell Malfoy that he's a prat and that she wants nothing to do with him and spend the rest of the school year avoiding him. Difficult, given they share a bathroom and are working on a project together. She would prefer to remain civil with him. Another option she had was to allow herself to be ok with how he felt and try and forge some kind of friendship with him. Potentially the best option, given the length of time that was left in the school year. Another option was one which she was only allowing herself to dwell on briefly was to acknowledge his feelings and see what may come of some kind of relationship between them. That idea was unfathomable to her, but for the briefest of moments, she found herself wondering if he was a good kisser and if he would run from her if she attempted to do more as Ron had.

She now realised that the only option she had available to her was to attempt to have some kind of civil relationship with Malfoy, given that she was still in a relationship with Ron. As difficult as it was, she wanted to give her relationship a chance.

At this, she got up from her place under the tree and headed to where Filch was waiting to sign students in and out of the school for the Hogsmeade weekend. She signed out and headed for the gates before apparating to Diagon alley. She had one thing on her mind and that was to get things straight with Ron, once and for all. She walked down the street which was now starting to come back to life. Shops were reopening all up and down the street and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was still as bright as it was when Fred and George first opened it. She walked up the couple of steps and into the store which was quiet as she entered. She took some time browsing the shelves before George came from out the back.

"To what do I owe the pleasure miss Granger?" came the familiar cheery voice. It was one Hermione hadn't heard in a very long time. After Fred died, George had been an emotional mess. It was good to see him looking like he was doing ok.

"George, how good to see you" she said. "I was wondering if Ron was around?" she asked.

George looked a little awkward and shifted uncomfortably on his feet and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Ron isn't here at the moment" he said.

"Oh" she said. "Well, do you know where he is? I really need to see him" she said.

"I'm not too sure, he said he was heading out for a bit while it was quiet. That was about an hour or so ago" he said.

"Ok" said Hermione, sensing something wasn't quite right.

"I'll tell him you stopped by though?" he said.

"Of course, please do" she said.

"Anything you want, by the way is yours" said George as Hermione was about to leave.

"It's ok, there isn't really much that I need at the moment" she said as she headed for the door.

"Alrighty then, I guess I'll be seeing you then" said George.

"Yes, I suppose so" she said. "George, is everything ok?" she asked, getting the feeling that he wasn't telling her something.

"Absolutely" he said.

She just nodded and exited the quiet shop. She had no desire to return to Hogwarts so spent an hour or so browsing the new stores. She hesitated at the thought of going to Gringotts to get some money changed. The last time she had been there she was fleeing on the back of a dragon.

She headed down the street to the apparition point and apparated back to the gates of Hogwarts. She cringed as she walked through the gates at the realisation that she was so incredibly lonely here. Neville and Luna were inseparable and Ginny was spending all her time either playing quidditch or writing to Harry. She suspected that Ginny was sneaking off to see him in secret but had no way of knowing for sure. The castle was so different now, it was quite possible that they had found a way to smuggle him in or get her out.

She walked very slowly to her dorm which to her relief was empty. She made sure to check each chair so she didn't make the same mistake as the day before. She retreated to her room and collected her Alchemy homework before spreading out on the desk in the common room. She was working alone for about an hour before the room started filling up with students. She found herself looking up every time someone entered and was forced to make small talk when she realised it wasn't the person she was hoping to see. She didn't know why, but she found herself feeling anxious to see Malfoy again. Perhaps to see if the trip to the forest that morning had actually happened. Or perhaps to know what her reaction would be to him when she saw him after thinking about what him for most of the day.

Despite her long-forged animosity towards him, she couldn't deny that he was attractive and had a massive amount of sex appeal. While he no longer carried himself with a sense of authority and arrogance, he displayed some level of self confidence and experience that she was beginning to find incredibly alluring.

She was so distracted by her thoughts and the idea of Draco Malfoy that she hadn't realised when he had actually entered the room. She had the end of her quill in her mouth as her thoughts ran away with her and almost dropped it when he walked over to where she sat.

"Granger…" he began. She looked up at his face and once again, was taken by how different he now looked. Gone were his boyish features, now replaced with a small amount of stubble and less pointed angles to his jaw. He looked nervous and glanced around the room as he stood beside her.

"Just forget about what I said before, will you?" he said quietly so that only she could hear. The room was full of people who resided in the surrounding rooms and they were all chattering away, so being unheard was not a difficult task.

"Ok" she said simply. There was no way she would forget what he said, but after considering all the options she had to choose from, she had decided that the best way forward was to try and live civilly alongside him until they were finished here.

He stood there, looking down at her for a few moments before turning and heading off to his room. Hermione packed her papers and books up and put them into her room before washing up for tea. She watched herself in the mirror and wondered idly what it was that attracted Malfoy to her. She had grown into someone who she would consider to be pretty, since having her teeth resized and growing into her features. She had tamed her wild hair into basic waves, had filled out and developed some womanly curves. Perhaps Malfoy was just attracted to the shape of her body? But he did say he had loved her since second year. It had to be more than that. Surely?

She dabbed some gloss on to her lips and headed out the door and towards the great hall where tea was being served. She ate quickly and make idle chit chat with those around her before excusing herself and heading back upstairs to her room. It had become to feel like her safe place, somewhere she could be alone and not looked at like she might crack at any moment.

She fell onto her bed angling herself so she could see out the window. She liked looking to the stars. It was one of the things that kept her connected to the world outside of Hogwarts. She had done so in her first year whenever she was homesick. Just realising that she was still in the same planet as her loved ones, even though it felt like she was in some bizarre novel. Come to think of it, she had always compared her life to a novel. So many ups and downs for one person to experience. Why couldn't she just have a simple life? She could be living out in the world at this moment, doing classes via correspondence, working admin in the ministry of magic or doing a traineeship somewhere. Not that she was homesick, as she hadn't really had much of a home in years, but she jut felt out of touch with the real world.

She stared up at the stars and allowed herself to drift into a strange sleep. She dreamt she was with Ron in the motel back in Australia on their last night together, but when she attempted to remove his shirt, this time he didn't resit. When she got his shirt off over his head, Malfoy stared back at her from where Ron had just been. Instead of stopping, she began kissing him and allowed him to touch her in places Ron refused to. She began to untie her pants and he was reaching for the waistband of his own pants but before she could find out what happened next, she was woken by a strange cold wind. She woke to find that it had been several hours since she had shut her eyes and the cool breeze that was blowing earlier in the night had now become a cold wind.

She got up and shut the window, attempting to shake off the dream she just had. She wondered how Malfoy could be affecting her so. Why did he have to waltz in and mess everything up?

Over the next week, she tried her hardest to avoid Malfoy. Monday's herbology class was not as awkward as she thought, as they documented the properties of the plants that had just begun to peek out of the surface of the dirt. They discussed things such as the colour of the stem and the shape of the leaves. They had their own text books so brainstormed some ideas individually. She avoided Malfoy in the corridors and spent a lot of time watching Ginny at quidditch try outs.

When Friday came, she had accompanied Neville down to breakfast early. She had planned a day of researching in the library to attempt to be the first to identify the plant for herbology. She was ahead in all her other class work but seeing as though the plant had only just sprouted, she hadn't had a chance to even begin to identify it.

She had just finished her breakfast when the owls arrived, delivering her a copy of the Daily Prophet and a letter that was sealed in an envelope. She glanced over the prophet and saw nothing of value before opening the envelope and recognising Ron's handwriting.

 _Hermione,  
George told me you came to the shop to see me. Sorry I wasn't there. I feel really horrible about how things have turned out between us and I wish I could fix it. The more time that goes by the more I am thinking that we are just supposed to be friends. Please don't hate me. I care about you a lot and hope we can go back to how it was before the war.  
Ron_

Hermione blinked several times before reading over the letter again and again. She turned the page over and over to see if there was anything else written on it, but there was nothing. Ron had dumped her in less than half a page of words. _Typical,_ she thought. As she took in the contents of the letter, she realised what it all meant. So many years of fighting their feelings before they were both able to even acknowledge the way they felt and now it's all coming to an end in a stupid pathetic letter.

She stood suddenly, drawing the attention of other people who were finishing up their breakfast.

"Are you ok Hermione?" Asked Ginny who had just arrived.

"No, but I will be" she said, as she grabbed the newspaper, scrunched the letter into her hand and stormed off to her dorm room.

She caught a glimpse of Malfoy watching her out of the corner of her eye as she left but didn't care to give it too much thought. This must have been how Lavender felt when Ron dropped her. At least he had the guts to do it this time and not just assume they were over because he stopped talking to her. When she thought about it, wasn't that exactly what had happened? Had he gotten sick of her and just stopped talking to her in hopes she would move on? As she walked, she wondered if he was even away from the shop when she went to see him. Perhaps he _was_ there and got George to lie for her. She didn't care to give it much thought if she was honest.

She Slammed into her room and threw the Prophet down on her desk. She pulled out a quill and some parchment and hastily wrote a reply to Ron.

 _Ron,  
I received your brief letter this morning and am disappointed to say the least. I do not think that it would be appropriate for us to communicate further. Please accept my sincerest regrets.  
Hermione_

She looked over the reply and was satisfied that it conveyed her feelings. She folded the parchment into a small square and marched off to the owlery. She arrived there in no time and attached the parchment to the leg of the first owl she found. After a brief instruction that she wasn't sure it even understood, she sent the owl on its way.

In some ways, she was relieved that the relationship was over, but at the same time she was annoyed at the lack of effort on Ron's part to even attempt to make it work. She thought they were going great in Australia. They had talked for hours on end about their childhoods and learnt more about each other than they had in the many years they had been friends. Was that the reason he was rejecting her now? She wondered. Had he found out that the more he knew about her, the less he wanted to be with her?

She walked without considering where she was going before she realised she was at her spot under the tree by the lake. She sat down and attempted to clear her mind. It didn't work, because she kept thinking about how much she just had no understanding of what had happened. She hated that all she could feel right now was a building hatred for Ron and attempted to convince herself that perhaps, at some point in the distant future, they could be friends.

After a while, she was distracted by the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned to see who it was and was not as disappointed as she might have been to realise it was Malfoy who was approaching her secret spot.

He sat down a few feet away from her and they both looked out to the lake for what she felt like might have been an hour. In reality it was just a few minutes.

"It's really pretty here" she said, not looking away from the view in front of her.

"I've never really had the opportunity to spend a lot of time looking" he said.

She wondered if they were talking about the view.

"That's disappointing" she said.

"It is what it is" he said.

She sighed as she felt herself relax. She hadn't ever felt relaxed in Malfoys presence before. It was panning out to be an interesting day.

"I saw you storm out of the hall this morning" he said. It came across more like a question than a statement.

"You're observant" she quipped.

"You looked upset" he said.

"I was" she answered.

"Well, is everything ok?" he asked, frustration emanating from his words. It seemed as though he was trying to fish for information.

"You can ask me what happened" she said, turning to look at him for the first time. His expression was worried. His eyebrows were set into a sad frown and his lips were slightly parted, words waiting to escape. He hesitated for just a moment and she turned to look back out at the lake.

"I didn't think you'd want to tell me" he said.

"I don't" she said. "And…. I do" she said.

"What does that even mean?" he asked with a slight hint of humour.

"It means that I don't know how to act around you now. You're so different and it's confusing" she said.

"You can be any way you want to be around me" he said.

"What I mean is, I don't know if I should avoid you, be civil with you or try and be your friend" she said.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't care" he said

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I want to get to know you. I want to know what makes you tick, apart from arrogant assholes, that is" he said. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or funny because she felt awkward looking at him. If she looked at him as they spoke, it would make it seem more real that it was him sitting here talking to her. Then again, he was not the Malfoy she had come to know of the years. He was gentler, kinder and considerate.

"Ron and I started dating just after Voldemort was defeated" she said.

"It was a tough time, you were bound to make some stupid decisions" he retorted.

"Well, we were really good for a while, then things got sort of… awkward between us. I haven't actually spoken to him in a long time" she said.

"I know I said I want to get to know you, but I was thinking more like, what's your favourite colour, what's your favourite type of music and what sort of flowers you like. Not so much about your love life with Weasley" he said.

"Purple, whatever is on the wireless and I'm not a huge fan of flowers" she said. "But you did ask if everything was ok" she said.

"I'm writing it all down" he said as he pretended to write on an invisible parchment on his hand. "Go on…" he said.

"So, I went to see him to Saturday and he wasn't at work…" she began.

"Weasley has a job?" he said.

"Do you want to know or not?" she asked.

"Sorry… So Weasley wasn't there…" he said.

"No, he was out, apparently. I didn't think too much of it, but I had really gone there to sort things out, you know, set things straight. Eliminate some of the distance between us" she said. "When he wasn't there, I can't back to school and went on with life. Then this morning, I get a letter saying… Well, here… read it for yourself" she said, handing him the letter.

He was just far enough away that he had to lean right over to take the letter from her. She watched as he read it, his eyes darting across the page a few times.

"Well, he has terrible penmanship" he said.

Hermione laughed and Malfoy smiled.

"That's all you've got to say?" she asked.

"Sure. Not much to go on, really, is there?" he asked.

"No. There's not" she said with a frown.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, do I?" she asked.

"Of course you do" he said, shuffling slightly close to her as he turned to face her better. "Weasley is an idiot" he said.

"That's it?" she asked.

"Yeah, well, if someone like _you_ is crazy enough to fall for someone like _him_ then he should have held on to you with everything he had. Its his loss really. You're too good for him" he said.

She was taken aback a little. Was this really Malfoy saying this to her? It was the most conversation she had ever had with him without him calling her a mudblood. At this thought, she rubbed her arm.

"well, thanks, I guess" she said. She looked back out to the lake, feeling a little awkward at the flattery.

"You're not used to people saying nice things about you" he said.

"Yeah, I wonder why that is" she spat. His face fell. "Sorry, I didn't mean it. It's just that, I have spent my entire teenage life around those two boys, it was like I was just one of the boys. Harry doesn't see me like that and Ron is vocabularily challenged" she said.

"Is that even a word? I thought you were smart" he said with a laugh. She laughed in response.

"Oh, how you wound me" she laughed.

"I don't think I've ever actually seen you laugh" he said.

"Well, take it all in, it doesn't happen often. Not now anyway" she said, her smile fading.

"I wish I could do something" he said.

"I actually think you're doing something just by being someone to talk to. Everyone else is too scared to talk to me. Maybe I'm crazy or something" she said.

"If you're crazy, I'm crazy" he said.

"Well, we're both crazy" she said.

"Perfect" he said.

"For what?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we could be friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, like secret friends?" she asked. "As if anyone would leave us alone if they saw us talking to each other" she said.

"I don't care what people think" he said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I've been doing what was right for everyone around me my whole life. It's about time I do what I want for once. And I want to get to know you. I want to spend time with you" he said.

She took in his words as though they were a drug, suddenly opening her mind to what this was all about. He had truly spent his life doing what was right by his parents, by his friends, to maintain his image. Now that all of that was not an issue, now that the world was a different place, he was free to be who he was, say what he wanted and see who he liked. And he wanted to see _her._ It made her feel a little excited if she was honest with herself. The only time she had ever been the object of someone affections before was when Krum followed her around the library and eventually asked her to the Yule Ball. Here she sat, with Malfoy, telling her he wanted to spend time with her. She knew that beginning any kind of friendship with Malfoy was likely to be an unconventional choice in who to hang out with, but at the same time, she couldn't help but think he was right. It didn't really matter what people thought.

"Ok" she said.

"Ok" he said.

"So… do we braid each other's hair now or something?" she asked.

"I don't know" he said. "I was thinking we could just hang out here for a while" he said.

"That sounds nice" she said.

They sat talking until their stomachs started to rumble. They spoke of their childhoods, she told him about what it was like growing up in a muggle world and he told her about growing up in a place like Malfoy Manor. She was hesitant at first about talking about the muggle world but he insisted and seemed genuinely interested about all things muggle, struggling to understand how people survived without magic.

They got to their feet after agreeing to head to the castle for lunch. As Hermione brushed the dirt off her clothes, she slipped on some loose sand and almost tumbled into the lake. Malfoy, being quick to react, grabbed her just in time and pulled her towards him.

She found herself pressed tightly against his chest and as she caught her breath, she inhaled his strong scent. It was intoxicating. She looked up into his face as he pushed some stray hair off her face, everything happening as though in slow motion. Malfoy leaned down as Hermione stretched up and closed her eyes as their lips met. His hands that had held her tight on her upper arms slowly slipped down to her waist and her hands that gripped his forearms made their way up to caress his face. They kissed gently at first, sweet soft kisses that tested the waters, but as their comfort built, the embrace intensified, hands tentatively exploring one another.

Ron had never kissed her like this, perhaps except for that first time during the battle of Hogwarts. Krum had certainly not been this good a kisser. Malfoy was seemingly an expert. The perfect combination of soft and passionate. She wasn't sure how long they kissed for, but when they finally pulled apart, Malfoy rested his forehead on hers and kept his eyes closed. He was savouring this moment and so was she. It was truly incredible, as far as kisses could be.

They pulled apart and headed to the great hall for lunch, not uttering a single word.

 **A/N - As always, please review xxx**


	6. Time

They pulled apart and headed to the great hall for lunch, not uttering a single word.

Millions of thoughts ruminated in Hermione's mind. She had just snogged Draco Malfoy! She had agreed to be his friend, had such a deep connection where they shared stories of their childhoods, then suddenly they had been caught in this intense embrace. And, the strangest part of this whole thing is that she really liked it. _Really_ liked it. So much so she could see it happening again sometime in the near future. But how could she tell him that? And how would everyone around them react? Not that it really mattered, but she was still the Gryffindor princess at heart and a part of the golden trio and he… he was the Slytherin bad guy, the one who let death eaters into the castle. She was certain that this new world of acceptance and tolerance would absolutely not be okay with any kind of relationship between these two vastly different people.

At this realisation, she slowed her pace, hesitating before arriving to the steps leading into the entrance hall where the voices of many students could be heard.

"I really think…" she began, "that maybe we should go in separately" she said.

They stopped walking and stood as Malfoy pondered this idea.

"If that's what you want" he said.

"It's not that I don't want to be seen with you, I just think its too soon to walk into a crowded room and have everybody think we've gone mad" she said, as they walked up the steps and into the entrance hall. It was deserted, with everyone currently eating lunch. It meant that they were late.

"Well, unless you haven't heard, everyone thinks you and I are both mad, but that's ok. We can remain _secret_ friends" he said.

"That's not…" she began, but she couldn't think of how to end the sentence. "Look, what happened back there… It was…"

"You regret it?"

"No! I just…" she sighed, wondering how to word this so she wouldn't hurt him or push him away. "I need some time" she said. She had no idea how she was feeling in this exact moment, so had no way of conveying it to him.

"Time. Ok, I have plenty of that" he said.

"Thank you" said Hermione, feeling nervous.

Draco took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently.

"See you 'round, Granger" he said with a smile, before heading into the great hall.

Hermione was left standing there with nothing for company but her own thoughts. What would happen, in time? She had no idea. Was this a one-off snog? Did she even want to do it again? Did she like it? Of course she did. There was no way of knowing how, when of if it would happen again, so with a determination to continue with life as normal, Hermione entered the great hall and had her lunch, trying very hard not to look over to Draco.

The afternoon was agonisingly slow. Hermione spent some time in the library doing some study but she found herself completely distracted by the memory of what happened by the lake. Finding comfort in Malfoy of all people was not something that she expected and it had completely thrown her. She was torn between the comfort of the status quo and the thrilling idea of going against everything she ever knew and delving into some kind of relationship with Draco Malfoy.

She eventually closed her books, as it was nearing tea time. She walked to the dorm, deposited the books in her room and, thankful not to run in with Malfoy, retreated back to the great hall for tea.

"Hermione!" Neville beckoned when she entered. He was sitting with Luna, Ginny and a few of the others from the DA. She made her way over and sat in the seat they had left free for her.

"Hi guys" she said. "If im not mistaken, this looks like a DA meeting" she said.

"We were just talking about the best spells that we learnt while we were part of the DA" said Luna.

"Yeah, we think, Hermione, that you should be teaching defence against the dark arts" said Dean.

"Ha! Don't be silly, Harry was the one who did most of the work. I learnt just as much as you all did" she said, wondering why on earth they were thinking about all of that now.

"Well, what _are_ your plans for when you leave here?" asked Ginny.

"Well, I hadn't thought too much about it to be honest. That's why I came back. To finish up my education and maybe get some career direction" she said, honestly. It was the most in depth conversation she had had with anybody since she came back. Well, except Malfoy, that is.

The thought made her relive the moment by the lake for the hundredth time that afternoon and she quickly faked a cough to hide the reddening of her cheeks.

The group talked about the DA all throughout tea and discussed the idea of a relaunch but Hermione strictly shot it down.

"No way" she said. "We have a DADA teacher now who is excellent at her job" she said.

"You don't have her" joked Seamus. As they finished their dessert.

"Is she horrible? I quite liked her when I met her" Hermione said, shocked that that sweet Professor Elliot could be anything but lovely.

"She's ok" said Ginny.

"Really tough though" said Neville. "You must get everything accurate or you do it until it's perfect" he continued.

"But we're all really good at spells. Neville, you were doing amazing non-verbal spells throughout the battle. Luna, you took on Bellatrix Lestrange and lived to tell the tale. Guys, listen, you're all great at this stuff. You've all done it, in real life, not only in classrooms" she said.

"That's the problem though, isn't it" said Seamus, "We can do it in real life situations, just not pretend. This teacher just doesn't understand" he said.

"Well, I'm sure she's just trying to do her best" said Hermione as she stood to head back to her dorm. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to a soak in the bath and an early night. "I'll see you all tomorrow, I'm exhausted" she said.

"Yeah, it must be tough having _no_ classes all day" said Ginny with a laugh. Hermione just poked her tongue out and walked away.

The weekend flew by without a sight nor a sound of Draco Malfoy. Hermione's dreams had now included images of him and her in various locations, doing a range of things. She hadn't ever had dreams of a sexual nature before, nor had she done the act itself, but for some reason, she was dreaming about making love to Draco, night after night, waking in a pool of sweat each time.

The weekend slowly gave way to Monday and Herbology class was the first time she would be seeing Draco since they parted outside of the great hall after their kiss. He hadn't even been at meals. This reminded Hermione of 6th year when he was rarely seen around the castle and it had turned out he was repairing the vanishing cabinet. She hoped beyond hope that he was ok, and was desperate to see him inside the greenhouse.

As she pushed the door open, she caught sight of the white blonde hair standing at their table waiting to begin the lesson. When she took her place next to him, she spoke.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"I've been around" he said.

"Well that clears that up then, doesn't it?" she said.

"I've been giving you some space" he said in a low whisper, due to the fact that the greenhouse was filling up.

"Why?" she asked.

"The last thing I want to do is have you running for the hills. You asked for time, I'm giving you time" he said definitively.

She pondered this idea for a while as they got to task. They were now measuring and sketching pictures of the leaves that had sprouted on their seedlings. While they didn't talk for the rest of the lesson about anything unrelated to the subject at hand, it didn't mean that Hermione wasn't thinking about it. She had thought about the idea of Malfoy almost every minute of every day since Friday and had come up with every possible scenario for whatever it was that they had going on, but none of it made beyond telling Harry. Ron was now completely out of Hermione's mind, of course. She wasn't one to be spiteful and wounded, but Ron really did a number on her.

These same thoughts went around and around her head for the rest of the week. Malfoy started coming back to meals and was attending all his classes, but they hadn't so much as shared a 'hello' since herbology. Hermione still dreamt about him every night and it was driving her crazy not to see him.

By Friday, Hermione found herself back at the tree that she now considered 'their' tree. She subconsciously hoped that he would be there, but while she sat for several hours, reading, thinking, studying, he didn't show up. At lunch time, she abandoned her place, had a quick lunch and headed to the library where she agreed to meet Ginny.

She entered the library and saw that Ginny had procured them a table. She sat and started working on an essay for History of Magic and had gotten into a good rhythm when Ginny passed her a note.

 _You still haven't told me about that letter you got last week._

Hermione read the note and quickly wrote back.

 _Ron and I broke up, it seems._

The note passing went back and forth.

 _What? Why haven't I found out about this till now?_

 _Sorry, I've just had a lot on my mind_

 _You two were great together._

 _I thought we were. But there were a lot of complications._

 _Like what?_

 _For one, I'm here and he's not_

 _Minor detail. Me and Harry are going great and we're apart._

 _Ron doesn't have Harry's maturity level._

 _Ron's an ass._

Hermione laughed at this. Indeed, Ron has been an ass. She still couldn't understand why he rejected her and why he suddenly lost interest. Not that any of that mattered. She didn't care that much anymore anyway.

 _Its ok Gin, I don't care that much. If it was meant to be, it would be. Plenty of fish in the sea._

At that, the two of them went back to their essays. Before too long, Hermione had finished her draft and was reading over it.

"oh…" said Ginny suddenly, looking towards the doors, "here comes Malfoy" she said.

"Hmm" said Hermione, glancing up but pretending to be engrossed in her essay.

"I seriously don't understand why he came back here. After everything he did. They should have thrown him in Azkaban with his father" she whispered.

Hermione groaned inwardly, knowing that she didn't agree with anything that Ginny was saying.

"I don't know Gin, he seems different" Hermione said, trying to diffuse the discussion.

"People like the Malfoy's don't change, Hermione. His father is like that, so were his grandparents and generations before them. All pure blood fanatics and muggle haters. It's the way of the world. They don't change" Ginny whispered.

"Maybe you just need to have a little faith" Hermione whispered a little brashly.

"Since when have you been an advocate for asshole rights?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not. The last thing I would ever do is stand up for people who have killed and tortured people I care about, but the whole world is different now and everyone in it has to adjust. The good and the bad. Certainly, if I can move on, others can too" she said as she stood up and headed to the rear of the library to cool off.

She found a secluded table and sat with her head in her hands. It was going to be tougher than she thought if she was going to have some kind of relationship with Draco Malfoy. Everyone was going to judge her, judge him and it would definitely put a strain on her friendship with Harry. Even though Harry had defended Draco in the trials, he would not be so accepting of any kind of situation where Hermione and Malfoy were a couple.

She practiced some deep breathing exercises to calm her raging thoughts and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her back. She turned and saw Malfoy standing there, smirk on his face, looking up and down the secluded isles.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I saw you storm off and thought you might want some company" he said.

"I just needed to stretch my legs" she said as she stood up.

"Sitting down with your head in your hands is a great way to get that done. What's wrong?" He said.

"I'm just realising how difficult things could get if we let this…" she gestured to the wo of them with her hand, "continue" she said.

"Hermione", he whispered, "I don't care about any of that. I told you how I felt. I want you in my life. I don't care what that looks like. I will be your friend or your secret friend or whatever you want me to be" he whispered.

"Whatever?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes, whatever" he said.

Suddenly, all her doubts melted away and all she could see was him standing in front of her. He was willing to be with her in any way that she was ok with. It was alluring, intriguing and sexy as hell.

She had never felt this way about a person before. So lust filled. She could kiss him right here if she weren't afraid to be caught by someone. And there lied the problem. She was quickly growing dangerously obsessed with the man in front of her, wanting nothing more than to spend uninterrupted amounts of time with him as often as she could, but they would be such a controversial couple. No one was going to accept them and she felt as though there may be people who would go out of their way to interfere.

Draco took her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes. He was almost hypnotic, the way he stared at her. She was completely captivated

He stepped closer to her now, her hands still encased in his, as he moved them around her back and backed her into the shelves. She was so aware of how amazing he smelt and how her breathing and heartrate accelerated phenomenally.

She exhaled, trying to get control of herself.

He let go of her hands, and she reached up to touch his face. He leant into it with his eyes closed appearing to savour the moment.

"I will have you any way you will allow me to. I just want you in my life" he said quietly, still aware that they were in a library.

With his eyes still closed, she leant up on her toes and planted a soft kiss on his lips. He responded, placing one hand on the shelf behind her and the other on the side of her face. She hadn't intended to make it hot and heavy, but in one instant, their mouths moved as if on their own accord, becoming accustomed to each other. Their tongues tested each other's boundaries and found their way beyond the lips of the other, dancing their own dance. For how long they kissed in this way, Hermione wasn't sure. Their hands found comfortable positions upon the body of the other as Draco leant his body into hers. Normally, she would feel trapped, positioned between the dusty shelves and the heat of another person, but this feeling was something completely different. It was new and sensual and so very welcome. She could feel every part of him, pressed against her and was aware when she felt something nudging into her hip. She obviously knew about this side effect of kissing, as Ron had often had to excuse himself after a particularly hot session, but it hadn't ever been this close, this intimate. She almost considered the idea of reaching down and encasing it in her hand but thought better of it. She wasn't ready to go _there_ with him yet.

Their passionate embrace continued until Hermione was suddenly aware of footsteps heading their way. She reacted instantly and reached to his chest to push him away. She turned to get a book off a nearby shelf and walked in the direction of the footsteps, leaving Draco to recover on his own. As she rounded the corner, she bumped into Ginny.

"I came looking for you, I thought you got sucked into a shelf or something?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, I started flipping through to see if it was the right book and got carried away" she said.

"Well, I have to go to class, so I'll see you at tea?" she asked, as the two walked back to their table.

"Yeah, ok Gin, see you later" Hermione said, grateful that the dim lighting of the library hid the redness of her cheeks and neck.

 **A/N - Will update asap, however, i am going away next week and have loads to prepare before then. Stay tuned... And please review. Next chapter may be the one which reveals everything.**


	7. Passing notes

Hermione sat back down at the table to finish her essay, knowing full well that she was not going to able to concentrate enough to get any of it done.

She could still feel Malfoy's lips on hers, his hands on her waist and in her hair. She closed her eyes and attempted t shake the thoughts out of her head, but the more she tried, the more the thoughts threatened to consume her.

She pulled a blank piece of parchment from her bag and duplicated it with her wand before performing a complicated charm on the two of them which would allow temporary written messages to pass between them. This had been something she had looked into in her spare time, thinking it would come in handy at some point.

She left her belongings where they were and took one of the pieces, heading to a shelf beyond where Malfoy had been sitting. She casually dropped the parchment on his books before browsing the shelves and heading back to her own desk.

Her heart was racing as she waited for him to return from the depths of the library. He seemed to be taking forever, so she attempted to return to her essay once again, vanishing ink from her mistakes and re-writing it correctly.

She heard the scrape of a chair and looked up to see Malfoy taking his seat. She pulled her charmed piece of parchment towards her and wrote on it.

 _H] Hey_

She waited, watching for him to notice the words appearing before him. It didn't take long before he looked up from his table and looked around the room. She wasn't sure who he thought might be writing to him, but when his gaze finally fell on Hermione, she held up her own parchment briefly, indicating for him to reply.

 _D] What is this?_

 _H] I charmed the parchment so we can send notes to each other._

 _D] As opposed to talking, verbally?_

 _H] Well, we haven't been able to get much of that done lately, have we?_

 _D] You have a point._

She thought about what it was that she wanted to say to him, and despite her desire to talk to him, she had no idea what to say.

 _H] I'm not complaining though._

 _D] Nor am I. I do worry though, when I see you storming off like you did. Are you going to tell me what happened?_

 _H] You have a reputation._

 _D] Really? Here I thought no one noticed me._

 _H] Oh, don't worry, everyone sees you_

 _D] Who is everyone?_

 _H] Everyone_

 _D] What do they say?_

 _H] You should be in Azkaban…_

 _D] That's not something I haven't heard before._

 _H] Do you believe it?_

 _D] No. Yes. I don't know. I was part of some really horrible things._

 _H] But you were threatened. You didn't want to do those things._

 _D] I could have gone on the run. Like you did._

 _H] No you couldn't. They would have hurt your family._

 _D] I could have thought about doing what you did. I could have done things differently._

 _H] You had no choice. I don't blame you for what you did, Draco._

 _D] That makes a total of one. Look, I don't care what people say or think about me._

 _H] Why?_

 _D] Because I don't need people's approval._

 _H] I bet that feels nice._

 _D] You already have everyone's approval._

 _H] Not for long I won't. Not if we continue the way we are._

 _D] I told you, I will see you in secret for as long as it takes._

 _H] I don't think I can live like that. We almost got caught just before. It wont take long._

 _D] We will be more careful._

 _H] Haha_

 _D] What's so funny?_

 _H] You think you have so much self-restraint?_

 _D] I can if I need to._

 _H] Well I'm not sure I can_

She wrote, pausing before tapping with her wand to send it. This will say so much more than anything else will. Telling him she struggles to resist him. She looked up and saw him, eagerly watching her, waiting for her reply. She tapped it and held her breath, watching him read. He smiled a smile she hadn't seen in a long time and she looked down before she might have to make awkward eye contact.

 _D] What happened to needing time?_

 _H] What can I say? I'm drawn to danger._

 _D] And you can't resist me?_

 _H] I'm doing alright now_

 _D] What if I were to be sitting next to you?_

 _H] I would be quite distracted_

 _D] More than you have been all afternoon?_

 _H] You've been watching me?_

 _D] It's a favourite hobby of mine._

 _H] That's just a little bit odd._

 _D] I'm not going to apologise._

 _H] I wouldn't ask you to._

 _D] So I can continue with my hobby?_

 _H] No!_

 _D] Well, we will just have to find a way to spend more time together_

 _H] And how do you propose we do that?_

 _D] Well, do we, or do we not have adjoining rooms?_

 _H] I think we established that when you barged into my room that night._

 _D] You were having a bad dream. I was worried._

 _H] Well, my dreams have been a little different lately, so no need for that._

 _D] So I can come see you? In your room?_

 _H] Sure_

 _D] So about these new dreams…_

 _H] What about them?_

 _D] Tell me_

 _H] No way!_

 _D] Why not?_

 _H] Its mortifying_

 _D] Am I in them?_

 _H] Perhaps_

She looked up and saw him grinning. He was really enjoying this. And if she was truthful, so was she.

 _D] I like where this is going_

 _H] Of course you do_

 _D] I don't know what you mean_ _?_

 _H] is that a smiley face?_

 _D] yep._

 _H] So mature_

 _D] So is passing notes_

 _H] This is the most conversation we've had in a week_

 _D] So, I will come to your room tonight and we can talk till the sun comes up._

 _H] Don't tempt me_

 _D] I'm serious_

 _H] I don't know that I trust myself around you_

 _D] But you trust me?_

 _H] of course_

 _D] So you think that if I'm in your room you may throw yourself at me?_

 _H] I can't rule that out._

 _D] Now I'm definitely going to be knocking on your door later._

 _H] I just… I'm not ready… for that._

 _D] All I'm interested in is snogging_

 _H] That's all?_

 _D] Well… I am a male, Granger._

 _H] That doesn't mean anything_

 _D] Trust me, it does_

 _H] Trust me, in my experience, it definitely does NOT_

 _D] What did Weasley do?_

 _H] More like, what wouldn't he do_

 _D] He's nuts_

 _H] I've heard_

 _D] Anyone would struggle to resist you_

 _H] So you shouldn't some to my room then?_

 _D] I'm not just anyone_

 _H] So you can keep your hands to yourself?_

 _D] I can if you can_

 _H] I can't promise that_

 _D] Well, neither can I_

 _H] hmmm_

 _D] Look, in all seriousness, I respect you. I'm not going to take advantage of you in any way._

 _H] I appreciate that, thank you_

 _D] Chivalry is not dead_

 _H] So it seems_

 _D] I can't wait till tonight._

 _H] Well, if I happen to head off to my room now, and someone knocked on my bathroom door, I may let them in._

 _D] now?_

 _H] Well, give me a few minutes to pack up and get to my room_

At this, Hermione packed her things into her bag haphazardly and slung it over her shoulder, taking a quick glance towards Malfoy. He sat there watching her, a look of intrigue on his face.

She hurried to her room and was glad not to be stopped on her way. All the students were in classes, it seemed, so she was able to tap once on the dorm room door, quickly enter and hurry into her room. She quickly picked up some things that had been laying around on the floor and had time to fix her hair and spray some perfume before there was a quiet tapping on the door that led to the bathroom.

She glanced once around the room, satisfied that it was adequate for a visitor and opened the door.

There he stood, leaning against the wall in a quite casual way. She eyed him up and down and tried not to think about how incredibly sexy he looked in this moment. It seemed he had changed in the time it took her to tidy up. He was now wearing comfortable tracksuit pants and a grey jumper. His chest was just visible at the bottom of the v neck collar and he stood there, completely confident in his abilities to throw her off.

"Wont you come in?" she said shakily.

He strolled in without saying a word. His presence, his appearance and his silence were throwing her off, completely. While she was so confident in the library while they passed notes, she suddenly found herself feeling nervous in his presence. She fidgeted with her hands as he took in all her trinkets and things on her dresser. She was grateful for having cleaned up before he arrived.

He turned to her and his face fell into a frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing" she said, glued to the spot near the bathroom door.

Her heartrate accelerated as he walked towards her slowly. He reached out and too her hands in his, stopping her anxious fidgeting. He entwined their fingers, staring down at them, as though mesmerised.

She stood there, watching him, watching their hands, as he linked their fingers together.

"One day, we will walk through the halls of this castle, like this" he said as he let their hands fall between them. They were now face to face, hands joined, in her room with no chance of being distracted. If anything, that realisation made her even more nervous. She glanced around the room, avoiding his gaze, but soon enough, she had to look into his face.

He let go of one of her hands and reached up to tuck some hair behind her ear and she released the breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

"You're nervous around me?" he asked.

"No. Yes? I don't really know" she said.

"Don't be" he said, quietly.

"I'll work on it" she answered.

He didn't say anything in response, just looked to her face. While she might normally feel awkward and embarrassed at this intense intimacy, it felt somehow calming.

He stepped closer to her, closing the gap between them somewhat and released her other hand, which fell to her side.

His hand had come to rest on the sided of her jaw and he now brought the other hand up to the top of her arm, which was exposed due to her short sleeve white blouse she wore. She didn't usually expose her arms, due to the words that were carved into her skin. This had been an oversight, as she had removed her cloak and jumper to tidy up.

Draco ran his thumb over her cheek and brought her face to his. Hermione closed her eyes, drinking in the feelings this closeness was bringing.

As his lips ever so gently brushed against hers, she found herself completely captivated. She had now gone beyond the point of no return. Whatever was happening between them, it was unstoppable now. She couldn't turn away from him, from this. She was now addicted to the feelings he created within her mind and body.

She moved her hands to his waist, allowing him to take full control of the situation. She preferred it to be this way, after her constantly being the one to lead the romance between herself and Ron in the past.

She cleared that image from her mind, letting herself get lost in Malfoy's tenderness. Gone was the sense of urgency they had embraced with previously. He hadn't kissed her this way before. It was slow, gentle and tender. He took his time, allowing Hermione the opportunity to savour each moment, absorb the feelings she was having.

 _Feelings? Did she feel something or was it just lust?_ She suddenly found herself questioning. He had come out and told her that he loved her and she had spent so much time pondering this idea that she hadn't actually considered whether she might ever feel the same. She knew that it wasn't right to lead him on if there was no hope of reciprocating his feelings, so perhaps she _did_ feel something?

She mentally kicked herself for being such a thinker when he pulled away slowly.

"Is everything ok? He asked, still in quite close proximity to her.

"Yes, of course" she answered.

"You seem lost in your own head" he said.

"How do you do that?" she asked, wondering if he was using ligillimency on her.

"I can sense your distraction… here" he said, as his thumb grazed her bottom lip. It made her quiver.

"Shall I be honest?" she asked, hoping not to ruin the moment.

"I'd prefer it" he answered.

"I'm just thinking about… feelings" she said.

"Feelings?" he asked.

"Well, you said you loved me once…" she began.

"That still stands" he said.

"I just don't know if I am there yet" she said.

"I don't expect you to be"

"I don't want to lead you on if I don't think it will happen" she said.

"I don't care. I'm happy to have you in my life Granger. I've told you that before" he said.

"But we can't keep our hands off each other" she said.

"That's lust" he said with a smile.

"Of course, I know that" she said, leading him to the window seat so they could sit.

"Look..." he said, running a hand through his hair. "I want more than anything to have you fall in love with me, but I'm not going to force that. If it happens it happens. If it doesn't, we'll end this and that will be that" he said.

She frowned at the idea of ending this, whatever this was, between them.

"I don't want to end this" she said. "But I don't want to hurt you if I decide it's not what I want" she said.

When he didn't say anything, she continued.

"Gosh, that sounds incredibly selfish… I don't mean… I mean…" she sighed. "I really enjoy kissing you, Merlin, I enjoy it…."

At this he leant forward and kissed her again. More passionately than last time. She allowed herself to respond to his lead, one hand resting on the thigh of his leg, the other travelling up his chest, over his bicep, down his arm and back up to come to a rest at the back of his neck.

When they eventually separated, breathless, he responded to her statement.

"All I'm interested in, right now Hermione, is getting to know you and kissing you in secret. Don't overthink this" he said.

"Ok, lets talk then" she said.

They sat talking as the sun set out the window beside them. They spoke of the war and the things that had happened during the last 12 months. They both completely let their guard down and Hermione felt at ease, as she told him things she hadn't told anyone.

When Malfoy got up to light a candle, they suggested it might be time to go down for tea. They staggered their leaving times, rushed through their meals and returned to the window seat in Hermione's room where they talked all through the night.

 **AN- Seems like things are moving forward for these two. I wonder what might happen if people were to discover their secret? Will Hermione fall in love with Draco? Is she in love with him already? So many questions.**


	8. The Ball

When Malfoy got up to light a candle, they suggested it might be time to go down for tea. They staggered their leaving times, rushed through their meals and returned to the window seat in Hermione's room where they talked all through the night.

Hermione woke late on Saturday after falling into bed somewhere near dawn. She recalled the events of the previous day and smiled to herself as she took her time getting up.

 _She arrived back from tea after rushing through her meal. She told he others she was unwell and intended on going to bed. She quickly showered and changed into comfortable pyjamas before lighting some candles around her room. Malfoy had told her he would arrive later than her, as not to arise suspicion, so she relaxed on her bed and started to read a muggle novel. She had read 2 chapters before hearing the 'tap tap' on the bathroom door. She got up and opened the door, letting him in and headed over to the window seat where she sat with a blanket._

 _"Been waiting long?" he asked._

 _"Not really. I managed a shower and started on this muggle novel" she said._

 _"What's it about?" he asked, looking at the cover._

 _"Some sad teenage girl moves across country to live with her father where she falls in love with a dangerous vampire" she said._

 _"Sounds like a load of garbage" he said._

She looked to the discarded book on the floor. Its definitely something she will pick up again when she has a need to clear her mind and delve into another world. She wasn't too concerned about that as she felt that her mind was content to recall the night she had.

When Draco had returned, there hadn't been any more kissing or even touching. They had just had an unbelievably intense night of conversation, flirting and teasing. Despite the in-depth conversations, expressions of admiration and talk of feelings, they had yet to come to an agreement regarding their relationship. Despite being desperate to begin an official relationship, Hermione was still unsure about how she would begin telling people that she was falling for Draco Malfoy.

She headed down to the great hall for lunch after taking her time dressing. She had nothing planned for the day except a plan to meet up with Ginny and Luna later on in the day.

"Hermione!" came Ginny's voice, as she tucked into some sandwiches.

"Ginny, hi" she said.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yes, I am, why do you ask?" Hermione answered, forgetting she was supposed to be unwell the night before.

"You went to bed early and didn't get up till lunch time. You never do that" she said.

"Oh, yeah, right. I had a rotten headache. The sleep worked wonders though" she said.

"Have you been sleeping ok?" Ginny asked.

"Sort of" she answered vaguely as she allowed herself to drift back to the memory of last night.

 _Malfoy stood up, stretching his legs._

 _"This window seat isn't too good for the posture" he complained._

 _"I added a little cushioning charm to my side, you should have done the same" she said._

 _"That wold have been good to have told me three hours ago" he said teasingly._

 _"Have we really been here that long?" she asked, looking up at the clock on the wall._

 _"mmmhmm" he said, "I guess you want to go to sleep then?" he added, stretching his legs out._

 _"Well, I don't feel tired… but if you want to, you can go" she said._

 _He turned to her and frowned. Hermione thought he was about to leave, when suddenly he pulled out his want and, with an interesting flick and little more than a murmur, Malfoy conjured a green and silver bean bag._

 _"How did you do that?" she asked, getting up to inspect his handiwork._

 _"I will never tell" he teased._

Hermione took a couple of sandwiches and made herself look like she was joining into the conversation going on around her, while allowing herself to drift back into the memory of the night before.

 _They sat in the dim light that was emitted by Hermione's dancing blue flame, on similar green and maroon bean bags and they soon grew into a comfortable silence, both staring into the flame._

 _"Why are you so nice to me?" he asked suddenly._

 _"What do you mean?" she asked._

 _"You should hate me. I have been horrible to you for years. I must have made your life hell" he said, sadness creeping into his face._

 _"I did. I hated you so much for so long" she said._

 _"So why are you sitting here, now, talking to me?" he asked._

 _"I might ask you the same thing" she said._

 _"I told you, I'm different now. I don't believe the things I used to believe. All that pure blood bullshit. Its rubbish" he said._

 _"When you came strolling into the dorm, I was mortified, I even tried to get the headmaster to kick you out…" she said._

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yes, absolutely. The only thing I knew of you when you got here, was that you were an arrogant asshole who didn't deserve to be here with the people who almost died trying to protect Harry. You_ did _make my life miserable for the longest time and I dreamt of ways to hex you without anyone knowing, for most of my teen years…" she said._

 _"I deserved that" he said._

 _"Draco…" she began, moving her bean bag closer to his, "I want to spend time with you because I saw something different in you. You were hurting, like me. I was so lonely when I came back here. It was like I was someone completely different, after everything that happened. You came here and you didn't hold yourself in that arrogant way that you used to. You've been through a lot and it shows on the outside. You were troubled and sad and just as lonely as me. I saw that in you even in that first herbology lesson" she said. "It's only been a few weeks since you came back and I shouldn't be trusting you the way that I do, but I can't help the way I feel. I see something different in you. I believe that you've changed, and the parts that haven't, I believe that they can" she said, relieved at being able to tell him how she felt._

 _"I really appreciate that, Granger" he said._

 _"It doesn't mean that I'm letting my guard down completely" she said._

 _"Granger, I'm in your room, in the middle of the night, we've snogged more than a couple of times… I think your guard is down" he said with a smile._

Hermione finished her lunch before heading to the library to do the study she was supposed to be doing the previous day. She thought about the night she had and despite all the talking they did the, there was never a mention of a relationship or any idea of how or when to let people know they were seeing each other. She unpacked her essays out of her bag and set to work, finishing up her history of magic essay. She was distracted by the ideas in her mind of what people might think. It was just over a week since she and Ron had broken up and she had already snogged Malfoy three times.

Was she just throwing herself at the first guy to look her way? Perhaps she was? But was there actually anything wrong with that? She thought that if she were a male, she would be encouraged to play the field. As she finished her essay and put the final touches on it, she had come to the decision that she would let this _thing_ run its course, whatever it was.

Hermione didn't see Draco until late that night. He had spent that day in his room and she had been with Ginny at the quidditch pitch into the early evening, preparing for the match that was coming up the following day. Ginny hadn't pressed her for any further information about the previous night, and for that she was grateful. She was feeling bad for lying to her friends abut what she was getting up to, but at the same time, it was thrilling to have this intense secret.

After the Quidditch practice, Hermione headed to the great hall with the team and ate tea, chatting away. It was a nice change to the norm and she felt like her night talking with Malfoy had cheered her up a great deal. She felt like someone was finally understanding how she had been feeling.

After she had showered, changed into her pyjamas and settled in for a night of easy reading, she heard a knock on the bathroom door. With a wave of her wand, the door opened.

"Hi there" she said as he walked directly to her bedside.

He sat down on her bed, to her right and looked into her eyes. His right hand was resting on her leg and his left was gently tucking her hair behind her ear.

He leant forwards, ever so slowly and kissed her. The kiss was so gentle, she might not have felt it.

"I really missed you today" he whispered, as he trailed kisses down her neck. This was something new.

"Is that why you cooped yourself up in your room all day?" she asked, feeling slightly breathless.

"I cooped myself up so I can figure out ways to keep my hands to myself" he said as he allowed his hand to move down her thigh to the bottom of her pyjama shorts where her pink skin was visible. He was kissing her neck still, slowly moving back to her eager lips. She responded immediately, kissing him with hungry desire that she had not felt before.

There was a sense of passion in the air as they were seated on her bed, kissing, allowing their hands freedom to roam at leisure. They never strayed beyond acceptable boundaries, despite Hermione's eagerness. She scooted down on the bed and moved over, allowing him to lay next to her and they continued kissing. It was a brand-new experience for her and she suddenly found herself wondering how many girls he had done this with, in the Slytherin dorms. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, as he went about kissing her neck again. She allowed herself to let those thoughts go and embraced the sensations that were beginning to build deep within her abdomen.

Her mind was groggy and her thoughts were all directed towards continuing this feeling for as long as possible.

"What if I don't want you to keep your hands to yourself?" she asked while he busied himself at the bottom of her jaw. He stopped, however, seeming to be shocked by her question.

"I didn't think you were ready to have _this_ go public?" he asked, looking into her face. She blushed. Not quite what she had meant. She wanted him to touch her in intimate places, not hold her hand in at lunch time.

She hesitated for a moment, trying to find a way to communicate with him what she was trying to say, without actually saying the words. She reached to his face and brought him back to her lips, kissing him passionately as she took his hand and placed it gently upon her chest above her clothing.

Draco didn't pull away but moved his hand to the bottom of her cotton pyjama shirt, playing with the hem, before slowly reaching underneath and moving up towards her breasts, beneath her shirt.

Hermione moaned ever so slightly as his warm hand cupped her flesh, his thumb brushing her nipple gently. This was another new sensation and once again, she found herself thinking about why on earth she was trusting Malfoy with her body in this way. He wasn't the angry, arrogant hot headed young person he once was. He was a sexy, passionate, completely changed man, and he wanted Hermione.

They continued their passionate encounter, allowing themselves the freedom to embrace and experience the feelings that were apparent between them. After what felt like an eternity, they began to slow down and decided it was time to cool it.

"I think its best I leave before we get a little carried away" Malfoy said.

"Maybe that's a good idea" she said. He removed his hand from where it had come to rest on her stomach beneath her shirt and leant back to look Hermione in the eyes.

"I still can't believe we're doing this" he said.

"Well, in all honesty, neither can I" she said with a smile.

He kissed her on the forehead before swinging his legs off the bed and placing one of her discarded pillows on his lap. She supressed a smirk and sat up next to him, leaning her cheek on his right shoulder.

The idea of his arousal stirred something deep within her that made her want to drag him back into her bed but she knew she would regret it if she acted impulsively. Hermione was renowned for thinking things through meticulously and this was another thing she would have to think about and plan before it happened.

She shook her head, as she thought about the idea of planning to have sex with Draco Malfoy. It was still such a bizarre concept to her. Even the realisation that she was in close proximity to him and didn't have feelings of hatred and loathing was still such a surreal thing for her to consider.

"You're lost in your thoughts" he said, suddenly bringing her back to the present.

"Sorry…" she said.

"Don't be sorry… what's got you so worried?" he asked.

"I'm not worried… I'm just thinking about how much has changed between us" she said truthfully.

"I ty not to think about the past…" he said.

"I can't help but overthink everything" she said.

"I'm beginning to feel like life has just begun. Everything from before the war doesn't matter anymore. We can be what and who we like now" he said.

She thought about these words and realised how right he was. Even though she was still struggling to come to terms with the idea of a relationship with Malfoy, she was realising now, more than ever that no one and nothing was going to be the same.

As Hermione laid wide awake in her bed that night, chasing the idea of sleep, she thought about what Malfoy had said about feeling as though life had just begun. She wanted to feel the same and more than anything, she wanted to tell people about this new strange relationship she had formulated with the boy who tormented her for the last 7 years and played a significant part in her capture, torture and attempted murder of her best friend. There was so many factors at play in this new life that made it feel like telling anybody would be an impossible task.

Sleep soon found Hermione and she drifted into a sleep, that was void of any nightmares. Instead, Malfoy visited her dreams, continuing the passion they had begun earlier.

The following morning, Hermione sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast with Ginny, Neville and Luna. There was a great deal of chatter going on and Hermione sensed that other people knew something she didn't. For a moment, she thought that maybe people had discovered the secret she was keeping from the world, but rationality took over and she set out to discover what was happening.

She approached a table across the hall where some 4th years were looking over a piece of parchment. They were talking about a ball and giggling about dates and dresses.

Hermione reached for the parchment and quickly discovered what it was that had caused the stir.

 _Celebratory Ball_

 _To be held in week seven in the great hall to celebrate new beginnings  
and the end of the wizarding war_

 _Dress code is formal wizarding dress robes with a masquerade theme_

 _Previous and recently graduated students are welcome to attend_

 _Students are encouraged to find dates_

 _Hogsmeade trip will be moved to week 6 to ensure sufficient time to procure items_

 _Authorised by Headmaster McGonagall_

Hermione took the parchment to the table where Ginny was waiting for the gossip.

"It's a mask ball!" said Hermione.

"What? You're joking?" she said, taking the parchment that Hermione was passing her. "Look, I can invite Harry. It says here, previous students are welcome" she said.

"Oh Hermione, that's great, you can invite Ron and use it as a way to work things out between you two" Luna said. She was trying to be helpful, but Ron was the last thing on Hermione's mind.

"Yeah, that's a great idea Luna" Hermione said, vaguely, thinking about how she will manage to go to the ball alone.

Hermione followed Ginny and the team to the quidditch pitch to watch the first game of the year and noticed Malfoy was already seated in the stands, at the opposite end to where he sat as a slytherin. She was interested to understand why, but didn't think too much of it as the students began to file in and get seated. She chatted animatedly with Neville and Luna while the game unfolded. It was a longer than average game and was finished at 4pm, with Ginny's team just winning 740 to 710. It was a game that Hermione was certain Harry and Ron would enjoy, so she made a point of writing to Harry when it was over.

As she returned from the owlery to her dorm later that evening, she bumped into Malfoy in the common room. It was an awkward encounter, surrounded by people who has become accustomed to seeing them fight and argue. Malfoy stepped aside, allowing Hermione to pass by and she thanked him sweetly.

"What was that all about?" asked Neville when he Hermione sat next to him on the couches.

"I'm just so sick of living life full of hatred. Its time to move on" she said.

"Don't know how you can. I couldn't. You're a good person, Hermione", Neville said.

Hermione didn't say anything, just pulled a copy of the prophet towards her and began to read.


	9. The arrival of the Ball

Hermione approached the following week with apprehension. She had so many thoughts ruminating through her mind and no real way to get it all out. She felt as though she needed to talk to someone about Malfoy but she had no idea who would listen without judging her for who she happened to find herself drawn to.

He was the only person she felt like she could be herself with, completely, but she couldn't talk to him, about _him._

Throughout Monday's herbology class, Malfoy would continually find excuses to brush up against her as she spent the lesson scanning through the text books in an attempt to identify the plant.

Before the end of the lesson, Hermione was feeling flustered to the point where she gave up on trying to identify the plant, allowing Neville to be the first to correctly identify it as a Silphium plant. This particular type of plant, which, when grown and brewed correctly was an effective method of birth control and Hermione found herself briefly interested in discovering the methods associated with developing this potion.

She knew of the spells and enchantments, but the idea of a potion to prevent pregnancy was something that hadn't been taught in decades.

Hermione avoided Malfoy during her free lessons and lunch break in the middle of the day. He had made her so flustered in Herbology that she thought she may attack him if he were to be near her.

History of magic was pretty uneventful, as was the rest of the evening. Hermione had gone to Malfoys room that night, but sat on her conjured maroon bean bag, several feet away, just talking.

"You're a bit of an ass you know?" she said to him as she fell into the bean bag.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked with a grin.

"You were touching me in herbology" she said.

"Hmm, yes, well I'm sorry abut that. There isn't much space in those greenhouses" he said.

"Well, it was very distracting. I was hoping to identify that plant" she said.

"I thought it was best to let Longbottom have it" he said as he shifted his seat closer to Hermione.

"You knew what it was?" she asked irritated.

"Sure I did. I even put the book on Longbottom's desk where the information came from" he said.

"We could have won" she said.

"And drawn attention to ourselves? _Oh, look, Granger and Malfoy working well together, what has the world come to?"_ he said in a tone, mocking the girls in the class.

"True… but still, I like to get the answers" she said.

"Oh, I know" he said. "How does it feel?" he asked.

"You know, it doesn't actually feel that bad. I even got less than 98% on my history assignment and it doesn't even bother me" she said, feeling a change in her attitude towards schooling.

"Somehow, school doesn't seem as important as before" he said.

Hermione just nodded, distracted by the idea that she was beginning to lose what it was that had always made her, her. Or had it? Had she just been an intellectual because she wasn't anything else? She wasn't good at chess or quidditch or anything else, but when she strived to know everything, she usually could. It had become part of who she was over the years and everyone around her had accepted it as her truth.

Hermione thought about the idea of her self-identity for a while as Malfoy read a book, while absentmindedly massaging her feet. It was an amazing feeling that she hadn't really had the opportunity to experience before, but she really enjoyed it. Just another thing she never knew she liked.

Tuesday came and brought with it Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. He was still sticking to his plan to provide safe, educational lessons that were a mixture between what he used to provide and what professor Grubbly Plank provided. He invited Hermione around for tea that night and, while she wasn't exactly keen to sit around chatting like old times, she agreed.

After Arithmancy class and a short study session in the library, Hermione, Neville and Ginny headed down to Hagrid's hut. It was as cosy as ever and the nostalgia that came with the scents and sounds hit Hermione like a freight train. She found herself disengaged from conversation, uttering the occasional yes or no as appropriate, and delving into memories of being there with Harry and Ron, getting up to mischief, solving the world's problems and having an escape from the craziness of the castle. This was a part of her world that Malfoy would never accept of understand and she was concerned, more than ever, that their worlds were never going to blend.

As she left Hagrid's and wandered back to her room, she pondered these ideas and wondered exactly how her world with Malfoy might exist outside of here, where everyone would know and their friends and families would be involved. It wouldn't happen. There was no logical way that her muggle family and his pure-blood fanatic family would approve of any kind of relationship.

When Hermione entered her room and sat on her bed, she had come to a conclusion about her life. When Malfoy entered through their shared bathroom and came to sit beside her, she held her hand up, gesturing for him to stop.

"Wait…" she said, "we can't do this" she said

"Are you heading to the library?" he asked, still attempting to be in close proximity to her. She could feel his eagerness to touch her, to kiss her, to be close to her, but she had to refuse.

"There's no way anything real between us will ever work, Draco" she said.

He just stood there, dumbfounded.

"I thought we didn't care what people were going to say. You know how I feel about you Hermione, I want to be with you" he said, a look of hurt in his eyes as he backed away slightly.

"Our worlds are so different, our families… Our lives… I just don't see how this will work beyond the bubble of this castle" she said.

"I know, it will be difficult, but I'm willing to try" he said.

"I'm sorry… I just don't think I'm prepared to lose everything I have, my friends, my family, my life, because of some lust-fuelled affair" she said.

"Is that what you think this is?" he asked.

"You don't love me, Malfoy. You love the idea of me!" she said.

"You're wrong" he said, slightly lost for words.

"You belong with someone like Pansy Parkinson or one of the Greengrass sisters or…" she started.

"I DON'T WANT THEM!" he said, anger radiating off of him.

"I'm sorry" was all Hermione could say, before she turned and left him standing in her room alone.

She shut her door behind her and pushed past the people who were settling in for the evening in the common room and started walking. She walked around the castle, feeling lost. She sat by the portrait of the Fat Lady for some time, thinking about the hurt she had caused the one person who was actually listening to her. She knew it was for the best though. He would lose everything if he even thought about bringing home a muggle born, a person who was branded a mudblood, to Malfoy Manor. She had to protect him, for his own good.

As the clock chimed midnight around the castle, Hermione made her way back to her room, hoping not to see anyone on the way.

She snuck into her room and found it empty. As she laid on her bed, she noticed that Malfoy had left the piece of parchment that she had enchanted to pass messages. She still couldn't believe that she had hurt him so, but she knew deep down that it was the best thing for him. He needed to be with someone like him.

When the sun came up, Hermione didn't rise with it. She stayed asleep in her bed throughout the day and late into the night. When the common room was empty, she headed up to the fat lady's portrait and sat there with thoughtless tears streaming down her face.

By Thursday, Hermione still couldn't bear to drag herself out of bed. She had classes but spent the day in her room, trying to sleep the day away. She skipped breakfast and lunch again, but by the afternoon she came out of the bathroom and found a tray of food had been left for her with a note from Neville wishing her well.

Late that night, as she sat by the window reading the trashy teen novel about vampires, Harry's owl, Otto landed on the window sill.

She untied the letter it held out for her and read it.

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _Thanks for your letter about quidditch. I hate that I miss it so much, but I'm so very busy now. I am shadowing Auror's and getting the hang of things quite easily. There isn't a lot to do, just rounding up some people who were suspected of being death eaters._

 _I've heard that you have been keeping to yourself a lot lately and I have to admit that I'm a bit worried. I can only tell you this because you're my best friend, but I had a hard time adjusting after the war. I thought things would be great, that all my worries would die with Voldemort, but I was having horrible dreams, night after night and couldn't get away from the thoughts about everyone who we couldn't save. I saw someone, a professional, and they've been a great help. I have sent their card with this letter._

Hermione turned over the card in her hand and read it. It said 'Betty Frostein, Head Social Work Witch, Mental Health Department, Ministry of Magic, London'. She tossed it aside and continued reading Harrys letter.

 _Anyway, Ginny tells me there is a ball coming up and outsiders are allowed to attend. I'm going and have told Ron to come too. He feels lousy about what happened and I know he wants to get back with you. The ball might be a good place for that. Who knows? I was going to ask to have lunch this weekend in Diagon Alley but I have some extra things to do, so I guess I will see you at the ball?_

 _I'm sorry I don't get the chance to write more. You have Nev, Gin and Luna to talk to. Please let the help you with whatever it is that's troubling you. Or make an appointment with Betty._

 _Harry._

Hermione tossed the letter on her dresser and laid back down in bed. Tears rolled down her cheeks for the 100th time that day and she allowed herself to cry herself to sleep.

She woke early on Friday, still feeling horrible, but went down and had an early breakfast before anyone else showed up. Her plan backfired, as just as she sat down, Malfoy entered the hall. He must not have been in the dorms, because she hadn't heard him walking behind her from the dorms.

As he sat, she caught a glance of his face and was horrified to see that he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. He quickly turned away and sat with his back to her, helping himself to breakfast. Slow, silent tears rolled down her cheeks as they had done every day since she broke off their 'thing'.

Hermione occupied herself that day by sitting in on classes that she didn't necessarily have. She went to defence with Ginny and to Potions with Neville before going to sit under her tree the rest of the day. She attempted to socialise with her friends during the afternoon and into the night and even planned to go dress shopping in the morning with Ginny and Luna. She went to bed late that night looking forward to a day with the girls and an opportunity to forget about everything that had troubled her.

Saturday arrived and Hermione found herself lined up with Luna and Ginny to go to the gates where they would apparate to Diagon Alley and make their way to muggle London to buy dresses.

After some uneventful shopping and a beautiful lunch at a café, they found themselves at a secluded boutique where they all managed to get dresses and matching masks that would make them all look stunning. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to go to the ball. She didn't feel much like celebrating, but she knew it was a good opportunity to allow herself to forget about everything and let her hair down.

The week flew by with strange haste. She saw Malfoy only a couple of times, but each time was more difficult than the last. She had missed him life crazy but kept reminding herself that it was for his own good. She spent a lot of time trying to spend time with her friends in order to try and maintain her sanity and found that it was only slightly helpful.

Saturday morning arrived quicker than ever and she found herself caught up in the excitement of getting ready for the day. She was coerced into the organising committee for the decorating of the hall by Ginny and Luna and found herself smiling for the first time in over a week as she magically hung decorations and lights around the hall. It was very elegant and by the time they were finished, it was beautifully decorated in dark blues and reds with velvet seating and booths and curtains for glamour.

She had a quick late lunch and went to her dorm to begin getting ready. By 6pm, Hermione was dressed in her fitted silver dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, with matching elegant mask in her hand and hair that hung down her back in perfectly set waves. She stood in her room, looking at the back of her door, wondering if this night was going to be as painful as she thought, or if she would manage to find some fun in it. She had managed to obtain some muggle make up that covered the words that had been branded on her arm. It would be the first time anyone would see her arm in months.

She held her breath as she headed out into the common room and dreaded it as soon as she did. Malfoy had entered from his own room at the same time and as they made eye contact, he retreated back into his room. She found Neville waiting for her and together they headed down to the entrance hall where the students waited. Luna approached them and Hermine stepped aside as they embraced.

Near the steps that led outside, she saw the distinct flash of bright red curls which gave away Ginny's presence. Looking around, she noticed Harry with his arm around Ginny's hourglass waist another red head awkwardly standing beside them, looking around nervously. Hermione swallowed her pride and approached them, hugging Harry and nodding to Ron.

"You look great" said Harry.

"Amazing. That dress Hermione. WOW, I'm slightly jealous" said Ginny.

"Don't be silly, Ginny, you look stunning" said Hermione.

An awkward silence came over the group and Ginny kicked Ron not at all subtly.

"Ahem, um Hermione, can we talk, a bit?" Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I don't know that there's much to talk about, but if you insist" she said, trying to act cool calm and collected.

Ron took her hand and led her to a corridor off the side of the entrance hall. The feeling of his hand in hers felt so foreign, so wrong and she pulled it away, pretending to fix her hair as they walked.

The stopped walking when they were out of earshot of anybody else.

"You look great" Ron said.

"You brought me here to tell me that?" she asked.

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean… I think I was wrong to break it off with you" he said, taking Hermione's hand back into his own.

"You think you were wrong?" Hermione asked, suddenly feeling completely disregarded.

"Yeah, I had a lot on my mind and I just…" he started, but he was uninterrupted by the footsteps of Malfoy entering the corridor, his shoes clicking on the stone floor.

"Oh, would you look at this. The lovely couple together again" Malfoy said as he removed a silver bottle from the inside of his robe and took a swig.

"Shove off Malfoy" Ron said.

Hermione just looked at the both of them and turned and walked away. There was no way she was going to be in the middle of whatever it was that was about to go on between them.

"So, what happened, are you two back together?" asked Ginny as Hermione made her way back in through the crowd.

"No, I mean, I don't think so" Hermione said.

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"Its just not very… romantic" she answered truthfully. If Ron had come to her, making a bold proclamation of his love, declaring how much of a fool he was for thinking he could dump her, she might consider taking him back.

"What did he say?" asked Ginny.

"He said that he had a lot on his mind and he thinks he was wrong to break it off" Hermione said.

"Oh… how…. Not romantic" Ginny said, a look of disgust on her face. "I can't believe my brother is such an idiot" she added.

"Yeah well, we all have to date duds before we find the right one" said Hermione. "Look at you back in your fifth year" she added.

"You're right. So, no chance of getting back with Ron?" Ginny asked.

"No, I don't know. I still care about him and will always love him. I was in love with him for a long time and we've been through a lot but he really hurt me Gin" she said. Suddenly saying for the first time the things she hadn't said in weeks.

"I'll talk to him" said Ginny.

"Go ahead, he's still Ron. Has about the romantic depth of a teaspoon.

At that, the students and guests were asked to put on their masks and enter the great hall. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malfoy glance at her before putting his mask on and watched as Ron glared at him, his neck and ears red from his anger and obvious frustration.

Hermione headed straight for the drinks station and, upon showing her wand, was allowed a small allocation of alcohol for the night. She had her first drink of mead, which made her relax just a little before beading off to find someone she knew. As she rounded a table, she bumped into Malfoy. She felt as though she was experiencing déjà vu, but as she looked up, he was completely different. He wore a sort of tuxedo, all black with some white accents on his shirt that was just visible beneath the stylish dress robe he wore. His black shoes shone as though freshly polished and his mask was plain on his face.

"You need to start watching where you're walking, Granger" he said softly as he held her by her arms. Similar to how he had held onto her in the past. Those moments always turned into something more. She felt her heart rate accelerate and her breathing quicken as she took in his scent, the sound of his voice and the feel of his warm skin, like electricity on hers.

"I… um…" she stuttered.

"You look absolutely stunning by the way. I can not keep my eyes off you" he said as he looked around and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "I'm not going to give up on you Granger" he said as he looked deep into her eyes.

"I don't belong in your world Draco" she said suddenly.

"You're already my whole world. You just don't know it yet" he said.

He walked away before Hermione had a chance to recover and she was left standing there completely stunned. He still had the ability to affect her so and it completely threw her.

She hurried back to the bar where she ordered another glass of mead, hoping it would allow her the opportunity to calm down.

A slow song began and people all around the room coupled up and began to dance. She looked around the room, hoping to catch sight of Malfoy, but instead, it was Ron who tapped her on the shoulder.

"Can we dance?" he asked.

"I suppose so" Hermione said, downing her drink in one go.

Hermione and Ron danced in silence for almost the whole song. She felt as though the arms that held onto her were foreign, like they were a stranger's arms. As the song began to wind up, Ron spoke.

"I want you back, Hermione" he said.

"Ron, you really hurt me" she said.

"I'm sorry. I panicked in Australia. I didn't think I could live up to your expectations, so I freaked out. I didn't want to disappoint you" he said.

"Why didn't you just say that?" she asked. "I was feeling exactly the same thing, except I was left completely and utterly disappointed regardless" she said.

"I'm sorry" he said as a new slow song began playing.

"Ron, I had no expectation that our first time together would be amazing. In fact, I thought it would be awkward and we'd be fumbling around and thought we might have just laughed our way through it" she said, truthfully.

"I just freaked out. I didn't want to disappoint you" he said.

"So instead of talking about it, instead of _maybe_ disappointing me, you _actually_ disappointed me, leaving me alone in a foreign country to finish the job you promised to help me with" Hermione said now, a little angry. "You were a selfish ass, Ron. You had complete disregard for _my_ feelings and just took off, the way you always do" she said, her voice getting louder.

"Please, Hermione, just understand…" he began.

"No, Ron, I can't understand. You left last year, you left again in Australia. How do I know you wont just leave when things get tough?" she asked.

I'm different now. I know what I lost and I don't want to lose you again" he said.

Hermione pulled away and as Ron stood still in the middle of the dance floor, she said, "I'll have a think about it" and walked away.

She found an abandoned table after grabbing another drink from the makeshift bar and sat on her own, contemplating what had just happened.

She tapped her foot angrily to the music and sipped on her drink as her mind ran away with her. She had once thought that Ron would be the one she would be with for the rest of her life. She imagined setting up a little apartment, working and coming home to him every day, eventually getting married and having little red-haired children. Those thoughts were nothing but a long gone fantasy she once had that were now non-existent. She realised in that moment, that she let go of those things weeks ago. She completely let go of Ron Weasley when he abandoned her for the second time and she was now ready to move on from that.

She stood up, determined to find Ron and tell him that she was not going to be with him. She walked through the crowd, looking around for sight of the red-haired man, but instead, in the middle of the dancefloor, she came face to face with someone else. Not the red hair she was looking for, but platinum blonde. People were dancing all around them and as she stood in the middle of the crowd, she suddenly realised that she didn't care anymore. She told him she didn't belong and he still wanted her. Surely, he knew what having her in his life would mean for him. Who was she to deny herself the pleasure of having someone by her side who actually _wanted_ to be there.

She looked up into his face and as people around them continued dancing as though they had not a care in the world, she spoke to Draco.

"I'm a muggle born. There is a high chance that this wont work" she said.

"I don't care" he said, as he moved closer to her. She felt his close proximity in every fibre of her being. "I will give up everything to be with you. I'll give up my family, my friends, my inheritance" he moved his face closer to hers. "I just want to be with you. For real. Properly" he said.

"Ok" she answered.

His lips were on hers before she took another breath and soon enough, they were wrapped in each other's arms, lost to everything around them. The crowd disappeared, the music was silent in their ears, the only thing that they knew or understood in that moment was each other. That was, until,

"What the hell is going on?" came Ron's extremely angry voice.

The music stopped, for real this time, as Hermione and Draco parted. Their hands remained joined as Hermione confronted her ex-boyfriend. Everyone around them had seen what had happened and every eye in the room was on the three of them.

 **AN - Thanks for the reviews that are flowing in. I love that you all are loving this story. This chapter has loads of juicy stuff in it. Hmmm... wonder whats going to happen! EVERYONE KNOWS!**


	10. Confessions x2

**AN- This chapter gets pretty hot and heavy near the end. Please, if you're below the age of maturity, just skim past it or stop reading now.**

The music stopped, for real this time, as Hermione and Draco parted. Their hands remained joined as Hermione confronted her ex-boyfriend. Everyone around them had seen what had happened and every eye in the room was on the three of them.

Nobody spoke at first. Hermione thought that perhaps everyone was in shock. Harry was standing close by, horror struck and Ginny beside him was hard to read.

"Ron… I was coming to find you" Hermione said.

"But, what? You tripped over and fell onto _his_ face?" Ron spat.

"Watch it Weasley" said Malfoy, his anger directed as a protective gesture towards Hermione rather than a threat to Ron.

Hermione looked around at all the people who had gathered around to watch the goings on.

"Can we take this somewhere private?" she asked.

"No, I think we can do this right here" said Ron.

"Fine" said Hermione, as she straightened herself up and pushed back her shoulders, gathering some confidence. "Draco and I have been seeing each other, in secret, for weeks" she said. All the whispering stopped and the room was completely silent. Ginny had grabbed Harrys arm, as if in disbelief.

"What? What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"What I mean, Ronald, is that when you left me stranded in Australia, I arrived here at Hogwarts a month later all alone with no one to talk to, no one who understood how I was feeling, no one who had been through the things I had been through. Then Draco arrived and even though I was immediately angry and wanted him gone, I put up with him and realised he was actually a nice person, underneath all that pure blood bullshit. He took the time to come to me and ask me how I was feeling, if I was ok, why I was spending so much time on my own. He is the only one, out of everyone, to show me that he cared. That he cared about me more than quidditch, more than a relationship, more than his own reputation and family" she said.

"Hermione, we've been here for you, surely you know that" said Ginny, quietly.

"Of course you have been, Gin, but you've also had distractions. Draco has been there, has taken the time to get to know me and allowed me to get to know him". Hermione said, shutting down Draco's attempts to jump in.

"so, that's it, you're throwing away everything we had?" Ron asked. At this, Hermione was furious. She ripped her mask off, threw it on the floor and stepped forward towards Ron.

"No Ron Weasley, YOU did that all on your own" she said. " _You_ ran out on me, _you_ ignored me, _you_ rejected _me_. Now it's _my_ turn! Come on Draco, let's get out of here" she added as she pulled him by the hand and led him towards the exit.

As Hermione walked out into the fresh air outside, still hand in hand with Draco, her heart hammered in her chest and her eyes welled up with tears.

"How dare he…? How could he…? Why the hell…" she stammered.

"Hey… Its ok, you've got me" Draco soothed.

"I'm ok, that was just intense" she said after a while.

"Well, the dragon's out of the bag" he said as he enveloped her in his arms.

"Cat… The saying… The cat is out of the bag" she said with a small smile.

They stood holding onto each other for several moments before Draco whispered into her ear.

"Hermione, I love you. I don't care what happens. What I have to give up. These last couple of days have been the worst. To have you, hold you in my arms, feel like you're mine and then lose you… I'm never going to let that happen again. I love you". She pulled away enough to look into his eyes. The eyes of the man she had poured her heart out to in recent weeks. She realised then, in that moment, exactly how she felt – she loved him too.

"I'm sorry for this week. I just thought that it would be better, easier if… I don't know. We still have a lot to consider. I just know that I have fallen for you, Draco. I love you too" she said.

"I don't care about any of that stuff. I care about here and now and right now we have nothing but time" he said as he pulled her back into his arms.

As they stood there, relishing in their newly expressed emotions, swaying slowly to the music that had resumed, they were interrupted by Ginny, who had come to find them.

"I'm not going to say this isn't weird" she said casually as she walked towards the couple who were holding each other as though they were each other's life line.

"Oh, its weird alright" said Hermione. "I know how weird this is, trust me.

Draco remained silent as the girls awkwardly discussed him right in front of him.

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked.

"I was going to but… that conversation we had in the library. I couldn't have exactly said ' _hey you know that guy everyone hates, well I snogged him'…_ What would you have said?" Hermione asked.

"You're mad" she answered.

"Exactly" she said. "I tried to get away, to stop it. It only made me miserable" she said truthfully.

"That's what's been going on with you the last few days?" Ginny asked.

"I broke it off" she said, walking over to sit on the nearby seat. Draco stood nearby but far enough away to give them some space. Hermione was thankful for that.

"When we were at Hagrid's the other day, I just realised how difficult it is going to be, telling everyone about us, joining both our worlds together. We're so different, Ginny. Our lives are completely different" Hermione said.

"Well, you don't need to worry about telling anyone, I bet the whole world knows by now" Ginny said.

"How bad do you think this will be?" Hermione asked

"It won't be easy, but you're strong. And if you both care about each other…" she glanced over her shoulder at Malfoy, "…you should be able to get through anything" Ginny said.

"What about Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Don't you worry about the boys, I'll sort them out" Ginny said.

"Thanks" she said as she hugged her friend.

"So… is he a good kisser?" Ginny asked, whispering.

"Oh my gosh yes. It's just… Incredible" Hemione answered.

The two girls giggled before Ginny stood up.

"Well, come on, there's a Ball going on in there" she said.

"Oh, no I couldn't possibly" she said

"Everyone is talking about you already, you might as well make it worth it" Ginny said.

"You know what? Why not?!" Hermione said.

"I'll see you in there" Ginny said as she walked away. Leaving Hermione alone with Draco.

She wandered over to where Draco was waiting and put her arms around him from behind.

"You want to go back in?" she asked.

"I can thing of many things I would rather be doing" he said as he turned and faced her, "but yes, let's go in" he said.

"The night is young" said Hermione with a wink as she reached into the inside of his robes and retrieved his flask.

"What's in this?" she asked as she removed the lid and took a whiff.

"Muggle Vodka" he said as she took a swig and screwed up her face. Draco laughed as they joined hands and headed for the great hall.

They walked into the hall, hand in hand, looking around at all the people dancing and enjoying themselves. They slipped in, unnoticed by most of the people who were still there and headed to the dancefloor.

There was an upbeat song playing, but as soon as they arrived, the band began playing another slow song.

The two danced slowly, unperturbed as the eyes of almost everyone in the room fell upon them. This, they knew, was how their lives would be, and Hermione wasn't surprised by that. It would have been nice if they could have saved their public appearance until after Hogwarts, but it was done now and they were free to be a real couple.

When the song finished and the two proceeded to a secluded bench, Harry came over and embraced Hermione.

"I just want whatever will make you happy. I can't say it wasn't a shock, but he seems different" he said to her. Hermione wiped away a tear as Harry extended his hand to Draco. All the people who had been near them, pretending not to notice, were watching this exchange between the two enemies.

Draco looked at Harrys outstretched hand and back at Hermione before taking his hand and shaking it.

"Take care of her" Harry said to Draco.

"I intent to" Draco said in response.

Hermione was happier than she could ever have anticipated. Harry was one of the people she was worried about. He certainly had grown up from the boy who suspected Malfoy of criminal activity.

Despite the happiness she felt at this turn of events, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had when she thought about Ron. He had come to this event hoping to rekindle some kind of romance between them and she had thrown that back in his face by snogging Malfoy right in front of his face.

After a moment's awkward silence, Harry left to dance with Ginny, leaving Hermione and Draco alone once more.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Hermione asked him as she felt, rather than saw people's eyes on them.

Without answering, Draco took her hand and led her towards the doors.

They left the ball without anybody noticing and headed for the common room. As they walked side by side down the corridor, Hermione suddenly began feeling nervous and anxious about this relationship. She had declared to him that she was in love with him, but was she certain of that? She didn't know for sure, all she knew was that it felt right in the moment when she said it. Her whole life was devoted to things that she knew and she was confident when she felt as though she could understand something. The feelings she was experiencing were completely new to her, nothing about this was logical or could be learnt from additional study.

She had no way of knowing if _this_ was a lustful affair or if she truly was falling for him.

"Are you ok?" he asked her as they entered the common room.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking. You know me" she said.

"Your room or mine?" he asked her as they stood in the middle of the common room.

"Uhhh…." She said, wondering what his plans were for the night. Was she ready for whatever was about to happen? She thought she had been with Ron, but that had been after weeks of dating and snogging. Realistically, Hermione and Draco had only been snogging for 2 weeks and one of those weeks was spent avoiding him. Not to mention, she had known Ron for the last 8 years. Up until a month ago, Draco was her mortal enemy.

"Relax Granger, we don't have to do anything you don't want to do" he said, reading her mind. "I can tell when you're anxious. Your body gives you away he said.

"You study my body now do you?" she asked.

"Granger, your body is one thing I have studied in great detail" he said. She rolled her eyes and he pulled her by the hand towards the door to his room. She followed him, feeling a little better and as they entered his room, she closed the door behind them.

"I'm not saying I'm not ready for… whatever you had in mind. But I just want to make sure its perfect, you know?" she said.

"Well, the only thing I'm going to do tonight, apart from appreciate how fucking amazing you look in this dress, is kiss you… here…" he said as he kissed her lips gently… "and here…" he continued, kissing her neck, "and here" he whispered as he kissed her collar bone. Her body almost convulsed as tingles ran through her body.

"mmm" was all she could get out.

She thought that if he were to try anything more, there would be no way she would be able to resist.

She reached up and pushed his robe off, taking care to hang it on the rack next to his door. Beneath, he was wearing a crisp shirt that he had unbuttoned between the ball and the dorm room.

"Hmm…" he said, "You removed something of mine, what can I remove of yours?" he asked cheekily.

She thought for a moment, before holding up a high heeled foot.

He knelt down and unbuckled first one shoe, then the second, as she supported herself by placing one hand on the wall.

When he dumped the second shoe on the floor, he allowed his hands to slowly run up the length of her leg, taking time to feel every centimetre. Hermione was captivated by the tingling sensations that it sent throughout her whole body and she closed her eyes to allow herself to immerse herself in the moment.

As his hand travelled higher and higher up her leg, she held her breath, anxious for a moment that he was about to venture higher than she had anticipated.

"Breathe…" he said. "I can read your body, Granger" he continued.

She let out her breath and looked at him as he stood and kicked off his own shoes.

"I told you, we weren't going to do anything like that" he said.

"It's not that I don't want to…" she said.

"I know" he replied, as he cupped her face in both his hands.

"I really do want to, in fact" she breathed.

"As do I" he replied.

"So… what are we waiting for?" She asked, suddenly realising that if they both wanted this, then why wait?

"I want to make it special for you... For us. Not some heat of the moment jumbled mess of an experience that we'll both regret and not be able to enjoy" he said. "When I make love to you, it will be special. It will be planned and romantic and it will definitely not be something that either of us regret" he said.

With that, Hermione relaxed a little.

"I might go get out of this dress I think" she said.

"Do me a favour first?" he asked.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Just turn around, slowly… I am a mere male after all and I want to take this all in" he said.

She giggled as she did a slow spin and walked towards him.

"uh, can you help me with my zip?" she asked, even though she could reach it herself, she thought that she could perhaps give him some payback for what he did to her just moments ago.

She held her hair to one side as she turned her back to him. As he slowly undid the zipper, she heard his sharp intake of breath as her dress exposed her naked back, all the way down to her lacy underwear. She smiled to herself as she walked through the door to their shared bathroom. She pushed the door to his room closed with her back to him as she let her dress drop, leaving her exposed ho him for just a fraction of a second. She had never felt like this before. Like a sexual goddess, someone who was admired and gazed upon. It was completely new to her and she was loving the fact that someone was appreciating her for more than her mind. It was incredibly girly and completely un-Hermione like, but she was so enthralled with these feelings of passion and desire that she didn't even know what was like 'her' and was wasn't.

In her room, she threw on a camisole and some pyjama pants and headed back for his room.

When she arrived, he was laying on his bed, wearing a singlet and pyjama pants of his own reading her trashy muggle novel she had been reading one night the previous week.

"Twilight? What kind of name is that for a novel?" he asked.

"Its supposed to represent phases of the moon or something. I'm not really too sure. I just have the series to take my mind off study occasionally" she said.

"You mean there's a whole series? How many?" he asked.

"There's 4 books" she said, sitting down on his bed.

"I'll have to see how the story ends" he said, stroking the back of his hand up her arm.

She turned to him, completely captivated by how he was able to make her _feel_ so much, just with one touch. She wanted to at least attempt to tease him in some way.

She climbed onto his bed on her knees, straddling his legs between hers and seated herself on his lap. His hands rested on her thighs and his gaze fell to her eager lips.

Within seconds, their mouths met and their tongues teased one another before performing a dance that they had almost perfected the previous week. Hermione could feel Draco coming alive beneath her and relished in that thought. She moved her body ever so subtly and continued kissing him, with such desire that she had not had before. Even with Ron, on their last night, she only thought to take things further because it seemed the logical next step. This time, with Draco, the passion was increased 10-fold, but still, there was no hurry to move things along.

His hands travelled up her sides, to her back and down to cup her backside. He aided in her movements so so gently so that the most intimate parts of their bodies would have been touching, if not for clothing. She felt his arousal, hard as stone, grinding against her most sensitive areas and as she kissed him and he moved her body for her, she felt a warmth build up inside her. There was no gentleness to the way he was guiding her movements now. It was purposeful and intentional. It wasn't like any feeling she had ever experienced, this was different. This made her want to let go of all her inhibitions and give herself to him completely. As their bodies were grinding against one another and both of their breathing sped up, the warmth inside of Hermione increased till it was an intense throbbing sensation and she felt like she was about to burst. She threw her head back, groaning with pleasure as he rocked her body against his. He released her, moving his hands up to encase her breasts which were perky, beneath the camisole she wore, but she continued to move. She kissed him with urgent desire as she felt her body begin to climb and once again threw her head back with this strange new pleasurable sensation.

"Let go" he whispered to her and with his words and the feel of his breath on her skin, she completely came apart on top of him, groaning with pleasure through her very first orgasm.

Her body collapsed on his and she vaguely felt him stroke her hair as she laid there with her eyes closed.

"Is that what it's like…? The real thing?" she asked him.

"I wouldn't know" he answered.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"You think I… I haven't… I mean… almost have, but never…" he stammered.

Hermione was shocked. She thought for sure he and Pansy Parkinson had gone all the way.

"I'm sorry… I just thought that… you seem so confident in yourself" she said.

"Its all part of the act" he said as he continued to stroke her hair.

"Well… that was… I mean… what happened then…" she started to say.

"Was it ok?" he asked. "I know I said we wouldn't…but…"

"Well, technically we didn't… and it was beyond ok, it was incredible" she said with an unseen smile.

They laid there, on his bed holding each other for a while until she heard his breathing slow to a deep even pace. She realised he must have fallen asleep, so reaching behind her on the night stand, she grabbed her wand and turned the lights out, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift off to sleep.

 **AN- Please review. How was that scene for you all? I have written a few of these scenes and every single time I post one I cringe at the awkwardness of it all. There will be more of these (and worse) in the coming chapters so please let me know if they're as cringy for you as they are for me and I'll change it up a bit. I hope everyone is happy with the outcome of the ball. Hermione was really anxty in that last chapter. It just demonstrated how much she has changed but still understands that this is actually MALFOY she is snogging here. Oh, and also, anyone really getting sick of the word 'snogging'? have some alternatives they can suggest? I'm pretty bogan Aussie so I'm trying to make it as readable as possible on an international scale. I would be interested to know if there are some really Aussie words through my writing that i should stop or change also... Thanks for reading. Next chapter might look at where Ron fits with all this now and what the repercussions are of this new romance throughout the castle.**


	11. After the ball

AN- This chapter is more of a filler, figuring out some details etc. I really needed to cut it short because my housework is lacking and my kids are bored. Sorry for all the typos, i have looked over my previous chapters and noticed LOADS of mistakes. Sorry. If i could be bothered and have the time, i will go through and fix them all, but i'm absolutely certain that you can all assume i know what i'm talking about. I truly am literate and quite a competent writer, i promise... :-)

CHAPTER 11 - AFTER THE BALL

Hermione woke with a start the next morning. She was encased in Malfoy's arms, laying beside him in his bed as the sun streamed in through the window. She carefully extracted herself from beneath his warmth and slid out of the bed, heading for the bathroom. She entered her own room after showering and dressed for the day. While she was brushing her hair, she heard he shower running and guessed the he must have been up.

Today would be the day that they would need to figure out the public nature of their relationship, deal with speculation, whispers, to answer questions and figure out simple things, like where to sit in the hall for meals.

As the shower behind the door came to a stop and she heard his movements around the bathroom, she allowed herself to remember the events of the previous night and the circumstances surrounding their falling asleep. She felt somewhat awkward regarding her behaviour, however, when her body gave an involuntary jolt at the memory of the orgasm that shook her to her core, she felt herself wanting more.

As she tidied her room from the mess of getting ready for the previous night's ball, she came across the parchment that she had enchanted, what felt like weeks ago. She retrieved both pieces and divided them up so they were small. This way, they were small enough to be carried around and they could communicate whenever they needed to. Once she performed the spell on the parchment, she heard a quiet tap on the bathroom door. She opened the door and saw him standing there, still towel drying his hair.

She sensed his awkwardness following the night before and she quickly encased him in her arms, hugging him close to her chest. She could physically feel his body relax and when she stepped away, he wore a smile that she had not seen before.

"What's got you so smiley?" she asked.

"Just the sight of my girlfriend" he said.

"I'm your girlfriend, am I?" Hermione asked, teasing.

"Of course. Unless you don't want to be?" he asked, looking confused.

"Of course I want to. Now that everyone knows about us, we might as well make it official" she said.

"I agree... So, what do you want to do today?" he asked, resuming his intensely happy smile.

Hermione could think of one thing she would like to do and it resembled the previous night's activities. She hesitated, as though deep in thought before her stomach gave her away.

"Breakfast it is" he said, heading for the door to the common room.

"Wait…" she said, hesitating. "If we both walk out of my door together, people will think we've been up to something" she said.

"Well, haven't we?" he said with a grin.

She gave him a playful slap on the arm before turning him and shoving him towards the bathroom.

"I'll meet you in the common room in a few seconds" she said. "Hang on" she added, handing him the small parchment from her dresser. "You can write with your wand tip and just tap it to send a message" she sent, resuming her shoving.

He took the parchment and disappeared behind his door as she pocketed her piece of parchment and turned to leave her room. The common room was empty as they entered through their respective doors.

"Hmm, yes, I can see why you were worried, all these people around here might think we're up to something" he said, teasingly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and headed for the door that would lead them to the rest of the castle. As they walked together down to the hall for breakfast, she became more worried, the closer they got.

"Where are we going to sit?" she asked him as they descended the stairs towards the entrance hall. "I mean, do we sit with my friends? Or do we sit at your table? I don't want it to be awkward for you, but I don't want to be one of _those_ people who abandons all their friends when they get a boyfriend" she said.

"Nothing has to change. We aren't joined at the hip we can sit where we always have" he said. "I want to sit with you, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to make it awkward for anybody. I've been a right ass in my time. I deserve everything I get" he said, as they approached the doors to the great hall.

"You've more than paid your dues… People will see that in time. I'll see you after?" she said, as she kissed him on the cheek.

They entered the busy room which had been returned to its usual round tables. All signs of the previous night's ball were gone. A few people glanced up and nudged the person next to them when they walked in, but overall, it was not as daunting as Hermione had expected.

She sat down with Neville, Luna, Ginny and Dean and pulled a plate of pancakes towards her. As she poured the syrup over her serving, she glanced up and saw that the whole table was watching her, waiting for her to speak.

"Um, hi?" she said, cutting into her breakfast.

"So last night was exciting" Dean said, casually.

"Indeed it was. I don't think I saw you though" said Hermione.

"Hmm, I guess not. But everyone saw you though" he replied.

"I'm not surprised" Hermione said, hoping that they would just get to the point.

"We can't say that we understand" said Neville, "But we'll try our best to be ok with it" he finished.

"Is that the general consensus?" she asked, not looking up from her food.

"I'm happy if you're happy, Hermione" said Luna in her wistful tone. Hermione was grateful for their honesty and was glad not to be getting any lectures.

Ginny scooted her chair closer to her once the random chatter picked up again.

"Soo… Last night?" she asked.

"Nothing happened" Hermione said.

"Hermione, you have a glow about you. _Something_ happened" she whispered. "And I have it on very good authority that you were not in your bed this morning" she added.

"Whose authority is that?" she asked, looking around the table.

"Mine" Ginny answered. "I came looking for you early this morning" she said.

"Oh…" Hermione answered.

"Hurry up and finish your breakfast, we'll go for a walk" Ginny said.

"Sure" Hermione answered, removing the communication parchment from her pocket and quickly writing a note to Malfoy.

 _Ginny wants to talk about last night. I'll catch up with you underneath the tree by the lake?_

She tapped it with her wand and looked over to Malfoy. He was casually eating his breakfast while reading the daily prophet. Once she had finished her breakfast, she and Ginny stood to leave. Malfoy had still not read the note, so when he looked up and noticed her leaving, she tapped her pocket. She felt a little guilty for leaving him like she was, but she knew that life was going to be a careful balancing act between Draco and her friends.

The two girls walked down to one of the places where they had often visited throughout their time at Hogwarts. They sat on a rock by the lake and scuffed their feet in the sand.

"You guys disappeared rather early last night" Ginny said.

"Yes, I suppose we did. It was just a little intense, is all"

"I'm not surprised… So, I want to hear the whole story. Start from the beginning" Ginny said.

An hour went by while Hermione told Ginny about the relationship that had developed between the two. When she told her about the day in the library, Ginny jumped up.

"I knew it! I knew something was going on! I never would have guessed that you were snogging him, but it was so strange, the way you defended him like that" she said.

Hermione continued with her story and eventually finished when she told her how they had agreed to sit separately at breakfast. She left out the part about their intimate moment last night, not sure if it was something she should be discussing.

"So, you guys slept together last night then?" Ginny asked, filling in the blanks.

"Well, we did _sleep_ together, in the same bed, but we didn't do what you think we did" Hermione said.

"So, you just snogged then?" she asked.

"Why are you so desperate to know about our sex life?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"I don't know, I want to talk to someone about this kind of thing. I consider you to be like my sister, Hermione. Even though you and Ron aren't a couple anymore, that is" Ginny said.

"Well, to be honest, we did get a little hot and heavy" Hermione said with a shy smile.

"Thank Merlin for that, I thought I was the only one" Ginny said.

At this, the two of them sat, discussing the intimacies of their relationships and the awkward encounters that result from inexperience. Hermione learnt that Ginny had in fact been sneaking out of the castle through new secret passages that were created after the war. She and Harry hadn't wasted any time before having sex following the war. Their justification was that they both had realised how short life can be and to wait for something like the physical demonstration of their love was absurd to them.

"It was really quite awkward at first. Neither of us know what we were doing and it was just a matter of laughing our way through it" she said. "But I guess you wont really have that problem. I bet Malfoy has been with loads of girls" she said.

"Actually, he says he hasn't" Hermione said.

"Not even that slag, Pansy?" Ginny asked.

"Apparently not. He was never interested in her. It was her parents who were pushing for a relationship. He just allowed her to follow him around and didn't correct people when they assumed they were an item" Hermione said.

"Well, in that case, my best advice is to laugh your way through it and just go with the flow" she said.

"Thanks" Hermione said, laughing.

"Just be careful, if you know what I mean. We've tried every spell known to wizard kind to make sure I don't get pregnant. I want to try out for the Harpies once school finishes" Ginny said.

"Oh, Gin, that would be amazing!" Hermione said.

"Yeah, well we'll see how I go. I'm not getting my hopes up, but that's why I've been putting so much effort into my training this year. They train every day" she said.

"You're a sure thing Gin. You've got this" Hermione said.

"Thanks" she replied.

"Well, we've been sitting here for ages…" Hermione said when she realised it was almost lunch time. "I had better go find my _boyfriend_ " she said.

"It's still really weird" Ginny said.

"Incredibly" Hermione laughed, as she got up to leave.

"I'll see you later" Ginny said, as Hermione waved and headed in the direction of their tree.

As she walked, Hermione pulled out her communication parchment and unfolded it.

 _D- Take your time xx_

 _D- I'm heading to the library. Let me know when you're finished your girl talk and I'll come down._

 _D- I miss you_

 _D- Not getting much study done. Can't stop thinking about last night_

Hermione read the messages which he had obviously sent over a period of time. He couldn't stop thinking about last night? Was he regretting what happened?

She reached the tree and sat down, leaning against the trunk with her feet dangling over the edge of the low cliff. She pulled out her wand and wrote a reply.

 _H- I'm done. Girl talk complete._

 _D- Wow, I thought you had forgotten about me_

 _H- Couldn't, even if I tried._

 _D- And you actually did try if memory serves me_

 _H- I did._

 _D- So, I guess I'll head down?_

 _H- Or we could just write to each other?_

 _D- ?_

 _H- You miss me_

 _D- I miss you every second I'm not with you_

 _H- That's sweet._

 _D- You miss me?_

 _H- Of course I do!_

 _D- Good!_

 _H- You're regretting last night?_

 _D- WHAT? NO!_

 _H- You said you can't stop thinking about last night – everyone knows about us._

 _D- That's neither here nor there Hermione. I was talking about later last night._

 _H- Oh…_

 _D- Do you regret it?_

 _H- what part?_

 _D- any of it_

 _H- I don't regret a single second. There's a few moments I'd love to repeat in fact._

 _D- Which part? The one where we were dancing at the ball?_

 _H- I was thinking the dancing we did on your bed_

 _D- GOOD me too_

 _H- That was…._

 _D- incredible?_

 _H- is there a word that means MORE than incredible?_

 _D- mind blowing?_

 _H- yeah, something like that._

 _D- You want a repeat you say?_

 _H- if you do_

 _D- oh believe me when I say I do_

 _H- Maybe next time we could ditch the clothing?_

 _D- weren't we going to wait?_

 _H- life is short Draco._

 _D- I want to make it quite clear what we're talking about here…_

 _H- sex, Draco. We're talking about sex._

 _D- right. We're on the same page then_

 _H- Are we?_

 _D- absolutely._

 _H- You wanted to wait though_

 _D- For your sake_

 _H- Don't_

 _D- ok._

 _H- So when?_

 _D- Whenever it happens I suppose?_

 _H- Right_

 _D- So can I come and kiss you now._

 _H- Please do_

Hermione didn't have to wait long. Within 5 minutes, she heard his footsteps approach.

"Hey" she said slightly awkwardly. She would never get used to talking to someone about sex. Or being near someone who she had shared such intimate thoughts and actions with.

He sat down next to her and she turned to face him. Their lips met before they exchanged any words and she was breathless once again. She would never get used to the feelings that stirred deep within her when he kissed her this way.

"wow" she breathed when they parted.

"Indeed" he said.

"You're so…" she struggled to find the words to describe how he made her feel.

"Amazingly sexy and such a great kisser?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty much" she answered.

"You're pretty incredible yourself" he said.

"Well, I don't think I'm _that_ good, but I try my best" she said.

"Trust me Hermione…" he said, grabbing her hand, "you've got some skill" he said, placing her hand in his lap, allowing her to feel the erection she had caused by kissing him.

She was slightly embarrassed but somewhat excited by the fact that with a simple kiss, she was able to affect him so.

"That's um…"

"Sorry, that was a bit much. I just figured you need to know how you affect me" he said, placing her hand back in her lap.

"Don't be sorry… It was fine. This is all new to me, so I like to know that whatever we're doing is nice" she said shyly, placing her hand on his thigh.

"It's more than nice" he said, placing his own hand on her upper thigh.

They stayed beneath their tree, kissing and allowing their hands the freedom to roam at leisure. There were many times when Hermione felt like reaching into his pants, breaking down that barrier. She was so curious as to what it might feel like, if it was warm or cool, would he let her or would he push her away, would he like it or would she be so amateur that she might hurt him or he'd hate it? And finally, if she did get her hand on it, what would she do? She had no way of knowing what they liked or what to do, so she was determined to find time to talk to Ginny about it, soon.

After much consideration and very little action on Hermione's part, they eventually came to a stop with their kissing and figured it was time to head back to the castle. She realised that she was such an overthinker that she hadn't thought to just stop and enjoy the moments they shared.

Walking hand in hand with Malfoy was something that Hermione felt would take a long time to get used to. She spent every moment of the last few weeks hiding her thoughts and feelings from everyone, that the sudden revelation of their relationship meant that they were now free to be near each other.

As they approached their dorm, a second year approached Hermione with a note.

 _Miss Granger,  
You are requested to meet with Headmaster McGonagall as soon as possible_

She showed Malfoy the note and said, "I'll see you later?".

He simply nodded and kissed her on the cheek before she turned and headed to the place where the stone gargoyle stood.

She wondered about all the things she might be called into a meeting about but something told her that it was about her nee relationship.

She spoke to the Gargoyle "Hermione Granger to see the headmaster" and it allowed her to enter. She rode the stairway to the door and knocked before a voice told her to enter.

Crossing the room to the desk, she remembered the last time she was here. She had begged McGonagall to get rid of Malfoy. It was only weeks ago but felt like a lifetime ago.

"Ah, miss Granger, please sit down" the headmaster said.

"What do you need professor?" she asked, hoping that she was wrong about the reason for this meeting.

"Would you like some tea? A cold drink?" McGonagall asked.

"No thank you professor" she answered politely. She just wanted to get this over with.

"Word has reached me, miss Granger, that you have begun a relationship with Mister Malfoy" McGonagall said.

"Word travels fast" Hermione responded.

"Indeed… Now Miss Granger, due to the historical nature of your _relationship_ with Malfoy, I wanted to ensure that you are completely aware of what you are doing" McGonagall said. Hermione stifled a laugh. It was understandable that people had thought she had gone mad. She might even consider the idea herself. Was she mad? Perhaps.

"Its ok professor, he hasn't slipped me a potion or imperiorised me or anything like that. He isn't the pure blood fanatic he once was" she said.

"You're certain about this? There's a simple test I can do to determine if you're under any kind of enchantment" she said.

"I'm certain professor. It has been a long several weeks. I am aware of my choices and our history. Draco is different" she said.

"And miss Granger, I hate to bring this up, but given your parents are muggles, are you aware how to keep yourself safe?" she said with a blush.

"Safe? Oh… yes of course, I know all of that professor. My parents taught me and I have learnt some things along the way from books I've read" Hermione said, slightly embarrassed.

"Very well, very well. The school is trusting that your group of students are mature enough to make decisions for yourselves. Hence why the castle provided you with the facilities that it has. While I do not approve, you're of the age of consent, so what you do is your business. But Miss Granger, please, I implore you… Consider your future. You're a bright witch and can go far. Don't let any mistakes stop you from fulfilling your potential" she said.

At this, Hermione stood, "I understand professor and you don't need to worry. Draco and I understand the risks of being involved in an adult relationship and we know all the precautions to take" she said, before turning to leave.

"Oh, Hermione…" the headmaster said, as she was about to exit through the door. "I'm proud of you… For putting aside your differences and getting to know someone for who they are, not what they've done. If the rest of the world can follow your lead, we may not have another war ever again" she said.

Hermione simply nodded and headed back down the stairs.


	12. The trunk

**AN - I am back! Sorry it has been so long between chapters. I was on a good run but I am currently on my final 500 hour placement for uni and with that, classes, 3 kids and a husband to look after, I've been falling asleep with my laptop on my lap at 9:30 every night. The wait is worth it though, but be warned, this chapter contains strong adult scenes. Do not read on if you're not mature enough for it.**

Hermione and Draco spent Sunday night sleeping side by side once again. They hadn't intended to, but much like the night before, they fell asleep while laying in the comfort of each other's arms.

They did little more than kiss, despite Hermione's previous admissions of her desires to progress their physical intimacy. She hadn't expected that they would just rush in and have sex that very day, but she thought maybe they would at least have a repeat of the activities from the night of the ball.

Herbology class was agonisingly slow. They were now preparing their plant to be trimmed in order to brew the contraceptive potion. Hermione thought this was a little embarrassing and perhaps a little unorthodox, however, highly necessary in a place such as this. She hadn't ever thought about it before, but she knew that there must be others, even younger students who are having sex and would be in need of some choices around contraception. Not everyone would be keen to cast spells on their intimate areas, probably the same way not everyone would want to drink a potion that would render them infertile for an indeterminable amount of time.

The week was an average kind of week. The couple got their fair share of stares and the occasional question, but they were able to shake it off. People were generally just curious about how he had managed to change so much to go from her mortal enemy to her boyfriend in just a couple of months. They spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights in their own beds, desperate for the space to stretch out. Draco promised to find a spell to make his and her beds wider so they both fit better, however, so far, he had no luck.

Over lunch on Thursday, Hermione pulled Ginny aside to an unused table and discussed all things intimate with her.

"How do you know that Harry… likes… the things you're doing?" she asked.

"I just know, I guess. At first, he would help me, sort of show me how he liked things. The same way I did with him really. Its all about just giving it a go and seeing if it works. If he cares about you the way he says he does, he wont laugh at you or make you feel bad for not knowing what to do" Ginny reassured.

They continued eating lunch and Hermione, still full of burning questions for the more experienced Ginny turned to her friend.

"So, you just sort of grab it and move your hand?" she asked, red faced.

"Its more than that. You won't hurt it, but you need to get a feel for what he likes. It may be completely different to what Harry likes, so if I tell you what to do, he may not like it. Be gentle at first, you don't want to excite him too much and then sort of go with your instinct. Ask him, if you're not sure. I asked Harry all the time when we first started fooling around, ' _is that ok'_ or ' _am I doing that right'_. It is awkward as hell, sure but at least you know" Ginny said.

Hermione was feeling relieved. She wanted to demonstrate to Draco, physically, how much she cared about him, but the thing that was holding her back was her fears of doing it all wrong. She decided that that night she would just go for it and see what happened.

Hermione and Draco shared their Alchemy class together that afternoon and they sat beside each other, their feet curled around one another. Hermione took notes the whole lesson which was a feat in itself as Draco attempted to distract her, often.

"Stop it, or I won't be able to concentrate" she whispered as the professor was talking.

"I can't help it" he whispered back.

"Try?" she said, half-heartedly. Truthfully, she _wanted_ him to distract her, drag her into a secluded classroom and kiss her till dinner time. He had done that on Tuesday, taking her by surprise.

For the rest of the lesson he just rested his hand on her leg as they both took notes.

After dinner, the two of them remained in the common room, studying as they sat next to each other. Neville had begun to get used to Malfoy being around and had sat on the other side of Hermione at the table. They studied in silence for a while before Hermione declared she was heading to bed. She thought Draco would follow, but he remained for almost an hour after she had gone to her room. In that time, she showered and changed into her pyjamas and read three chapters of the vampire novel. She was just beginning to worry what Draco was doing when she heard the shower start.

She finished the chapter of her novel when Draco opened the door to her room. He was dripping wet and wearing a towel that was slung around his waist. She stared at him, taking in the sight of his virtually naked form. He had well defined abs which surprised her. His stomach was flat with a trail of dark hair below his belly button and a well-defined V shape disappeared below the towel.

She heard him laugh and shook herself out of her thoughts.

"You enjoying the view?" he asked.

"Absolutely" she said.

"You completely missed everything I said, didn't you?" he asked.

"You spoke?" she asked.

"I did" he answered with a laugh.

"Well… In my defence, if I came and stood in your doorway, dripping wet wearing nothing but a towel, how would you react?" she asked.

"I would have less left restraint than you, I can assure you" he said.

"See!? So, what was it you were saying?" she asked.

"I was letting you know that I think I've perfected the bed widening charm and I wanted to know if you wanted me to try your bed first or mine" he said.

"Oh, I don't mind. My bed if you like" she said.

"I'll get dressed first, so you can stop looking me up and down like I'm something to eat, then we'll give it a go" he said.

Hermione wasn't even phased when he left. She was caught staring, but he was an attractive person and he belonged to her. She was well within her rights to stare. She felt too, that he did it on purpose. She would definitely get him back for that. She quickly changed into a short nighty before he came back and hopped back under the covers, still sitting up with her novel in her hand. There was no way she would be reading another word tonight but she kept up the pretence.

Draco came back just as she had perfected the art of pretending to read.

"Ok, so you might want to hop up because I can't guarantee this will work" he said.

She carefully got out of the blankets, not bothering too much to cover her self up completely. She was aware that her backside may be visible if she bent over so she carefully bent down to tuck her book into her bag. When she stood, she noticed he was clearing his throat, turning away in an attempt to disguise the fact that he was most likely staring at her behind. She realised that it was actually incredibly thrilling to have him look at her that way.

Hermione watched as he skilfully attempted the new charm he had learnt. He had gone out of his way to learn this for her and it worked on his first try. Her single sized bed had now expanded to double its size. The blankets also expanded and the pillow duplicated itself.

Hermione looked at him in awe. He was actually a very skilled wizard.

"Great work" she said.

"Thanks. I wasn't actually sure if it was going to work, but apparently it has" he said.

She closed the distance between the two of them and put her arms around his torso. He responded by placing his hands at the small of her back. She stretched up on her toes to kiss him on his lips and felt her nighty slip up her backside. As she kissed him, his hands travelled down, coming to rest on her bottom. As he kissed her, he grabbed her and pulled her closer to him, placing one of his feet between hers.

She was relishing in the feeling of being this close to him, wearing nothing but her underpants and a tiny nighty, which realistically, was just a long shirt. His hands never left her backside, but his knee pushed through the space between her legs, tempting her.

"Shall we try out this new bed?" she asked, as she pulled away for a breath. She often found that if she didn't at least give herself a couple of minutes to breath, she would become dizzy.

"I am rather liking standing here like this" he squeezed her backside, "but if you prefer to lay down..." he said.

Hermione gave a slight giggle before pulling herself away from him and taking the few short steps to the bed. She laid down, under the blankets, stretching out like a starfish.

"This is huge" she said, patting the space beside her. Malfoy looked cautiously at the bed but hopped in beside her anyway. She briefly wondered if he might have thought she was hoping they would have sex, here, this night, but she pushed that thought out of her mind.

He climbed in the blankets and laid down beside her, outstretching his arm so she could snuggle into his chest. She found this to be her favourite place to lay, arm resting over his abdomen, head resting on the side of his chest.

She could have fallen asleep like this, but she needed more. Her body was no longer satisfied with short sweet kisses for its intimacy. It craved more.

"mmm, this is nice" she said as he stroked up and down her upper arm.

She allowed herself several moments to relish in this new space before rolling over slightly onto her stomach and creeping up so their faces could meet.

"Hi" she said.

"Hi" he said back. There was no awkwardness between them, almost as if they had been together forever. She felt so comfortable around him and when she kissed him, he kissed her back as though she were the thing that gave him life.

They kissed for a while, allowing themselves the freedom to be bad at it, just letting themselves do what felt natural. After several moments, Malfoy stopped and pulled away.

"Is everything ok?" Hermione asked.

"I'm just so in love with you. It's a little scary" he said.

Hermione might have ordinarily been freaked out by this admission. His feelings for her were so incredibly intense and she had only recently discovered her own feelings for him, but it felt good to hear him say it and to _feel_ it from him.

"I love you too" she said as she kissed him again.

They kissed for quite some time while Hermione looked for the opportunity to put the ideas that her and Ginny discussed into practice. She wanted to just go for it, but she was terrified that it would take him by surprise or that it wouldn't be something he liked or he might reject her in the way that Ron had.

She purposefully let her hand wander down his chest towards his stomach as they kissed, playfully skimming the waistband of his pyjama bottoms. She gradually slid her hand further into his pants until she had completely overcome that first hurdle. Her fingers skimmed through his pubic hair as she continued kissing him, before she finally found her goal.

She reached her hand around his throbbing erection and found that many of her questions were answered immediately. It was soft but firm and was incredibly warm to the touch. She squeezed it ever so gently and found that she really liked the feel of it in her hand.

She felt, rather than heard his sharp intake of breath and she stopped kissing him long enough to ask "is this ok?". With his eyes closed, he nodded and laid back while she continued her exploration. She kissed him again while her hand began to move. She wasn't sure how long she was doing it for but she had worked up a decent rhythm when all of a sudden, he let out a little groan and a hot sticky liquid shot out of the end of his erection. At this, she stopped and he quickly cleaned it up with his wand.

"Granger, you drive me crazy" he said through his gritted teeth as he pulled her face to his and kissed her passionately.

"So, I'm guessing that was ok?" she asked when he let her go.

"That was definitely ok" he said as he rolled to his side and leant on his arm. Hermione turned to her back and allowed him to continue kissing her, giving his free roam to explore _her_ body. She felt no hesitation whatsoever in allowing him access to her body. She trusted him and was so incredibly turned on that she might not resist whatever it was he wanted to do to her.

They continued kissing while his free hand travelled up under her nighty. He bunched it up and pulled it up around her neck as he stopped kissing her and began kissing the soft flesh of her breasts. He had brushed his hands against her nipples before, but with his hot breath against her sensitive skin, she found herself revelling in the feeling of it. He was using his mouth expertly in combination with his free hand to tease and please her all at once. He continued his assault on her nipples with his mouth and his breath while his hand began a slow torturous journey south. Unlike him, Hermione was just wearing underwear so when his hand arrived at the place below her belly button, he didn't slow or stop. He continued his slow movement over the cloth of her underwear and carefully and purposely rubbed the space between her thighs. She felt the heat building in her abdomen, similar to how it did the night of the ball. This time, she wasn't in control, she was laying almost beneath this sexual god of a man who was determined to please her.

Malfoy continued touching her, above her underwear as he resumed kissing her lips. "Is this ok?" he asked, mockingly.

"Are you mocking me?" she asked, breathless.

"Of course not" he said with a smile.

Without waiting for her to speak, he kissed her again, with more urgency as his hand reached inside her underwear, searching for the place that would send her over the edge. She felt him part her legs with his foot and she obliged, giving him free access to her most sensitive and intimate area.

He used one finger to trace the slit up and down, sending her into a frenzy of desire and building upon the sensations that had been building in the pit of her stomach since he stood in her doorway wearing nothing but a towel.

He very carefully and ever so gently inserted one finger inside of her and she squirmed as the pleasure took over. As he withdrew it, he traced it up to the sweet bundle that was her clitoris and she felt an immediate surge of pleasure. He pressed and stroked it in a way that she never knew she needed and as the sensations built deep within her, she was vaguely aware that he was kissing her again while she panted and moaned in the lead up to her orgasm. He increased his pace now, inserting his finger inside of her once again while his thumb worked on her clit. It was a sensation unlike anything she had ever felt before and she wondered how people ever left their rooms once they realised what it was like to feel this way. With a moan of pleasure, Hermione let go of everything that she was holding back and allowed wave after wave of the pleasure of multiple orgasms overcome her senses completely.

She was vaguely aware that he had stopped touching her. She couldn't see or hear anything and wondered if she had passed out. She opened her eyes and saw his smile, lit up like a Christmas tree.

Malfoy was incredibly pleased with himself, it seemed.

"I'm guessing that was ok?" he asked, his smile just growing brighter.

"That was incredible" she answered, still breathless and panting.

He kissed her gently, softly, to prevent overloading her system once more and pulled her close, allowing her to snuggle into his chest.

"mmm, I might just fall asleep right here" she said.

Malfoy didn't answer, just kissed her on top of her head and before she could formulate another thought, her mind drifted off into a sleep devoid of nightmares and monsters.

On Friday the two of them spent most of their free day working on their homework which had accumulated over the week. Hermione was sure that the teachers were doing it on purpose so they would have no time to be together, however, Hermione and Draco were actually quite intelligent and grasped most of the concepts easily, so they had finished all their work by early afternoon.

"I have a few things I need to do" Draco said to her as she packed her finished homework into her bag.

"ok…" she said, feeling slightly confused. She guessed he would need time away from her every now and then and she wondered what it could be that he was up to. She utilised the time to write to Harry to explain the things she couldn't, the night of the ball. She even wrote to Ron.

 _Ron,  
I wanted to say how incredibly sorry I am that you had to find out about Draco and me the way that you did. I want you to know that I will always love you, but I'm afraid that the love we shared during the time after the war may not have been enough to allow us to be together properly. Romantically or otherwise, I will always care for you Ron, as I have done since we became friends in first year. I want you to be ok with the relationship I have chosen to pursue with Draco. He makes me happy and treats me the way I deserve to be treated. I have been able to put aside the things that happened in the past and have come to understand why he was forced to be part of things he didn't necessarily believe in. If I can move beyond all of that, I truly hope you can too. The anger, hurt and resentment will eat you up inside, Ron.  
Hermione._

She headed up to the owlery to send the letters and took her time, allowing herself to enjoy the view from the top of the stairs. She closed her eyes, taking in the sounds of nature surrounding her. It was the first time in a long time that she felt as though her life was heading in a strange new direction. There was always a possibility that she would return to Hogwarts, but now this was certainly her final year and she was facing the reality that, following this school year, she would never return.

As she wandered slowly back through the castle she took in all that the castle was for her. It had been her home, more than her own house was her home, for years. It had been the site of immense trauma and heartache during the war. It had seen unparalleled amounts of joy and sadness in its time and she would miss it almost as much as she would eventually miss its inhabitants.

She wondered briefly if she may be skilled enough to become a professor at some point down the track so she might someday call this place her home again, but quickly disregarded the idea as preposterous. She had always held onto the idea that she may work in the ministry of magic someday, working her way up the ranks to hopefully be a person of influence.

She made it back to the common room before tea time, expecting to see Draco there. She had no idea what it was that he had to do, but it wasn't her place to pry. Sure, she was curious, but at the same time, being new to serious adult-like relationships, she didn't know how much freedom to give and how much to ask about his whereabouts.

She sat with Neville and Dean as they did their homework, helping with their DADA essay, while completely distracted by Draco's absence.

"Where is lover boy today?" Dean asked.

"He has a few things to take care of" she replied.

"Like what?" asked Neville, looking up from his parchment.

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest" she said.

The boys both looked at each other with suspicion before going back to their work.

"He's just taking care of some things, he'll be back soon" she said, now feeling a little suspicious herself.

The evening passed by quickly and before long, Hermione was accompanying the boys down to the great hall for tea. She was now so distracted by Malfoy's absence that she wasn't hungry in the slightest.

"Hey Hermione, where's Malfoy?" Ginny asked when she got to the table.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she asked.

"Well, you usually walk in together. You haven't had a fight, have you?" Ginny asked.

"No, of course we haven't. Draco just had to do a few things this afternoon, is all" she said, attempting to brush off the conversation.

"He's MIA" said Neville.

"Missing?" Ginny asked.

"No, he's just doing other things. We aren't joined at the hip you know", she snapped.

At this, the others at the table stopped talking and took their places, ready to eat. The silence remained for some time, with just Luna whispering to Neville, before the food arrived on the tables. Hermione scanned the room every so often hoping that she might spot her blonde-haired boyfriend, but as she continued eating she saw not even a glimpse of him.

Hermione excused herself before the others had finished and headed for the fat lady's portrait where she knew she would find solitude. Had she been spending too much tie with Draco that her friends thought it was strange when he was not around. It was silly, she thought to herself. Neville and Luna spent every second together that they could. She assured herself that it was only natural to want to spend as much time with Draco as possible and guessed that her friends may just be concerned.

Hermione sat on the floor beneath the portrait for a while before she felt something in her pocket heat up. She hadn't realised she had the communication parchment in her pocket earlier, but took it out regardless.

 _D- Where are you?_

How dare he ask where she is when he had been gone all afternoon, she thought to herself.

 _H- I had a few things I needed to do_

 _D- Ok so when are you coming back?_

 _H- You've been gone all afternoon and through tea and you're asking me when I'll be back?_

 _D- I guess I am_

 _H- Well, I'll be back when I feel like coming back._

 _D- are you alright?_

 _H- I'm fine!_

 _D- clearly, you're not. Where are you?_

 _H- None of your business_

 _D- Granger… What's the matter?_

 _H- You just took off, didn't tell me where you were going. Everyone's been asking and I've been left looking like an idiot who doesn't know where her boyfriend is._

 _D- I told you I had to do a few things_

 _H- Of course you did._

 _D- What's that supposed to mean?_

 _H- Nothing, don't worry_

 _D- I'm coming to find you_

 _H- good luck_

 _D- Just tell me where you are_

 _H- Tell me where you were all afternoon_

 _D- Come to the third-floor corridor and I'll show you._

 _H- That's out of bounds this year_

 _D- Never stopped you before_

Hermione stood up, feeling angry and frustrated. Was this their first fight? It certainly felt like it. She walked through the castle and made her way towards the third floor where she he had said to meet her. As she approached the stairs that led down to that floor, she felt apprehensive. What had he been doing all afternoon and why couldn't she have been part of it? Why was he keeping secrets?

She entered the corridor and looked around, seeing no sight of Draco. She sighed and just about turned to leave when a door half way down opened and he stuck his head out.

She was stunned by how casual he looked and how _him_ he looked. It almost made all her frustrations vanish as she walked towards the room he was coming out of.

"What have you been doing down here?" she asked as she neared him.

"You're angry?" he asked.

"A little bit, yeah" she said.

"Please don't be" he said, stepping forwards and stroking her face. This always calmed her down, but she couldn't shake the feelings that had been building all afternoon.

"I felt so stupid, everyone was asking where you were and I just had no idea. I thought you'd be back, but you've been, where? Here? For hours, doing what?" she said.

"Well, I'll show you but you have to forgive me first. I should have told you. I just wanted it to be a surprise" he said.

She suddenly felt a little bad for being so angry. He was planning a surprise for her?

"You were planning a surprise for me?" she asked.

"Come and see" he said, taking her by the hand and leading her into an empty room.

The room was unremarkable, except for some tables, broken chairs, a cupboard and an old trunk laying around. Dust and cobwebs lined every surface. Hermione turned to Draco after looking around.

"Hmm, yeah, I really like what you've done to the place. She said, sarcastically.

"You haven't seen what I wanted to show you" she said as he led her to the trunk. She stood in front of the trunk wondering what could be in it.

"What's in there?" she asked, hoping there was a simple answer.

"I'll show you" he said as he unclipped the lip and pulled it upwards.

When the lid was open, Hermione didn't see dirty old cloaks and pieces of parchment as she expected, but a set of stairs, leading down into a dark room.

"What is this?" she asked.

"This is our place" he said.

Hermione looked up into Draco's face which was full of anticipation and excitement as he took in her reaction.

"What do you mean our place?" she asked.

"Come..." he said as he stepped into the trunk and down the steps.

Hermione hesitated, but followed, feeling incredibly strange as she descended into the depths of what looked like an ordinary trunk.

When they reached the bottom of the steps, Draco flicked his wand and the once dark room was dimly lit with candles all around. There was a couch and small table on the left, facing a fireplace and on the right stood a queen-sized four-poster bed, with plush pillows and a comforter that looked far more comfortable than it could possibly be. On the wall directly in front was some shelving that contained some books and a dresser with an ornate mirror positioned on top where Hermione could see her face from where she stood.

"Draco…" she breathed. Words had escaped her as she took in her surroundings. The more she looked the more she noticed.

"I made it. For you. For us" he said, looking down at her.

She walked over to the bed and ran her hand over the soft blanket that laid at the foot of the bed.

"This is…" she was still lost for words, staring around at the incredible thing that he had created. "How did you…?"

"I've been practising for a while. I got the idea from your undetectable extension on your little beaded bag…" he said.

She recalled the effort she went to initially to create that charm on the bag, it must have taken Draco forever to create this room.

"This is incredible" she said.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what I was doing. I really wanted it to be special" he said.

"I'm sorry that I was angry with you…" she said as she turned to face him. He looked down at her from his height that she could only come close to when she stood on her toes, with a look that made her realise he loved her. Really loved her. So much more than she ever knew.

He leant down and kissed her as she stood on her toes to kiss him back. They had kissed many many times before but this time was different. Hermione poured all her gratitude and love into the kiss as she felt it in return. They had both been through so much in the last few years and now that everything was slowing down and life was going to be simple for the first time ever, they could begin to think about their desires, their wants and needs and things that they wanted in life. They had both been searching for so long for that thing that made the lives whole without even realising. They had found each other, found love and solace in each the arms of one another and this was something Hermione had just realised, in this moment.

As she continued kissing him, she stepped back and sat down on the bed. Her intentions were clearer than they had ever been. She knew what she wanted and she wanted to show him how much she loved him. As Draco stood in front of her, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to the bed, laying down so he ended up on top of her.

She reached for his face and gently caressed his cheek before kissing him softly on the lips. He stopped kissing her long enough to look her in the eyes, tuck some stray hair behind her ear and tell her he loved her.

"I love you too" she said, as she pulled his face back to hers and kissed him with more intensity than before.

They kissed for quite some time before Hermione felt that it was necessary to move things along. She reached down and pulled her jumper over her head and helped him out of his shirt. She kissed him again as he took the hint and unbuttoned her blouse swiftly. She wrapped one of her legs around him and felt him press himself into her with more passion as he kissed her intensely.

Hermione reached down and begun undoing the buttons on her jeans, hoping that this was the sign he needed to know what it was that she wanted. It seemed to have worked, because Draco stopped kissing her and spoke to her softly.

"Is this what you want?" he asked.

"Of course," she answered. "I love you Draco" he said.

"I love you too Hermione" he said, kissing her softly before rolling onto his side and helping her out of her pants and underpants. He made short work of his own clothing before resuming kissing her. He made no move to position himself on top of her, instead, drifting his fingertips over her soft skin, making all of her nerve endings tingle. She was panting now, desperate for some kind of release. He really had a way with her body, knowing just how, where and when to touch her so she was tingling all over.

His hand slowly headed south, not impeded by any clothing. His hand travelled through her pubic hair and continued its journey south, briefly tracing her slit towards its goal. He gently rubbed her before inserting a finger inside of her. She moaned with sensation as she allowed her legs to fall apart. She was so completely vulnerable to him in this moment and she felt safe in his tenderness.

He withdrew and inserted his finger again and again and she gasped as she felt him insert a second. His thumb brushed against her clit as he continued the rhythm with his fingers. She was panting now more than before as she tried to continue kissing him. She was finding that her was out of breath the more she tried to kiss him. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she allowed herself to surrender to the things she was feeling, emotionally and physically.

As she moaned, ready for her release, he withdrew his finger and rose up on his elbows. He moved himself so that his knees were between her legs and she curled her legs around his. She was breathing heavily now, partially with intense passion, partially with fear and trepidation about what was imminent. His body was now above hers, they were both completely unclothed and they had made the decision to give their bodies to each other in the most intimate way.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, a look of fear, hopefulness and worry in his eyes. She nodded and brought his face to hers, kissing him as she tried not to overthink what was about to happen. His hand disappeared between them as she felt him guide his waiting erection towards her most sensitive area. She had to remind herself that he was also experiencing this for the first time as he seemed so confident and as though he knew what he was doing.

She felt the warmth of his arousal nudge the edges of her before ever so slowly entering her. She gasped as she hadn't expected the pain to be so intense. A tear betrayed her as it leaked out of her eye and rolled down the side of her face and into her hair.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his voice full of caution as he stopped his cautious entry into her body.

"mm hmm, its ok just keep going" she said.

She felt him glide himself into her completely and stop, allowing her to get used to the sensation of him. She was completely stretched and felt the fullness of him inside of her. It was an intense feeling, painful but not something she couldn't handle. She pulled his face towards hers once again and kissed him, attempting to distract herself from the burning pain she was feeling below.

As he kissed her back, she was reminded of all the times he had kissed her like this in the past and she felt her body relax. He still hadn't moved until this point and she felt him withdraw slightly, before pushing back in slowly. The pain had begun to ease now as she continued kissing him and was getting used to the feeling of him occupying a space that had never been occupied before. He begun to move now, easing back and forth, still slowly, but soon developed a sense of urgency that Hermione guessed meant he was getting close to finishing. She hadn't felt her release yet but was certain that it wasn't going to happen this time. She kissed him and begun to move her body in time with his as the pain was almost gone. The movement of their bodies in unison stirred something deep within Hermione and she felt herself build unexpectedly towards an orgasm that she hadn't thought possible. He moaned as she climbed higher and higher towards her release and she felt him quicken. This was it, she felt and as she moaned again, she felt him jerk and with a harmonious cry, they both succumbed to their orgasms together, collapsing side by side, breathless and covered in a sheen of sweat.

 **AN- Ok, so I am cringing as I upload this chapter. I love it, its just so cringe-worthy and I don't want you guys to think I'm a weirdo. That scene was quite descriptive but I feel it was necessary to enhance the idea of their relationship and emphasize the fact that they didn't just jump into bed and get it on. It was an emotional connection between the two of them and was a physical expression of their love, rather than a demonstration of their lustful attraction to each other.**

 **I've had some reviews that I have replied to in the reviews section, so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Sometimes the ideas in my head do not seem to translate into my writing as well as I would like, so if something doesn't make sense, please ask and i can explain my thought processes.**


	13. Christmas

**Sorry for the delay. Enjoy...**

Hermione sat by the lake late Sunday afternoon. She was writing to her parents and was craving some time alone to think. She had fallen more in love with Draco, if it had been possible, since they shared their first time together just two days earlier.

The moment had been perfect and the act itself was not disappointing in the slightest. In fact, she had found herself, over the last two days, going over the particulars of the event in her mind and catching herself smiling and tingling from head to toe.

Draco had been perfect. He was loving and attentive and took his time and made sure Hermione was ok throughout the whole thing. In the days since, he had been just the most perfect boyfriend. Hermione had thought on several occasions that weekend that maybe he was too perfect, maybe there was going to come a time when she would find out something about him that made him less perfect. She thought about the conversation they had earlier that day.

 _"You're too good, Draco" she said._

 _"What do you mean?" he asked, smiling._

 _"You're the perfect boyfriend. I'm afraid there may come a time when I uncover some horrific fact about you" she said._

 _"Granger, you've already seen the worst of me. You saw 7 years of it" he said, sadly._

" _I suppose that's true, in a way" she said, wondering if the worst of Draco had been wiped away with his new outlook on life._

 _"I want us to be together Granger, I'm absolutely certain that you'll find plenty about me down the track that annoys you" he said._

Hermione thought about how sad he seemed when they talked about the things that had happened in the past. She wished they could both forget about it and although Hermione felt as though she had, she was sad to realise that Draco was _still_ trying to compensate for it.

As she continued to write her letter to her parents, she wondered how she would manage to explain to her parents that she was now in a relationship with the boy that she hated for all those years.

She went with a simple explanation and left it at that. She had felt so disconnected from her parents in recent months and felt that her true family resided more within the walls of the castle and the confines of the wizarding world than in the home where she spent the first 11 years of her life. It was sad for her to realise, but as she thought more about what she might do after Hogwarts, she realised that she didn't actually want to go home. Perhaps it was because of her relationship with Draco or the fact that was now 18, she felt like she just couldn't go back. She needed to be out on her own, perhaps in a nice country cottage with Draco, surrounded by grassy hills and old stone fences.

As the sun started to set and darkness began to swallow up the last of the day, Hermione finished off her letter and sent it off via owl. Her parents weren't too keen on receiving letters via owl, but Hermione figured that this was her world and this is how she communicated. They might have to learn to accept with it.

When Hermione entered the great hall for tea, she realised she might have spent longer by the lake than she thought. She looked around the room and for a second, thought she didn't see Draco anywhere. As she headed towards the table where she normally sat with her friends, she noticed Draco sitting with them, talking animatedly about something. She stood back for a moment to observe this strange new situation and wished that she had a camera to capture this and send it to Harry. He would not believe that Draco was beginning to fit in with their friends.

"So, you see, that's common misconception. Ravens don't actually kill people. They just like the way the eyes shine in the light. If you can tame one just right, they are just like owls" she heard Draco saying to the group.

"So you have some Ravens then?" Neville asked.

"Yeah at home we have about 5 in an aviary. They breed so fast though you have to release them or give the away. Some people like them because of their colour, but I don't mind either way" he said.

Hermione sat down next to Draco and rested one hand on his leg. It was a relaxing normal night, full of chatter and very little awkwardness. Hermione thought that someone must be playing a prank on her because life was never this perfect. It somehow felt as though everything was falling into place and Hermione found it unsettling. After so many years of drama and one thing after another happening, it was extremely abnormal to feel so _normal._

In the days and weeks that followed, Hermione and Draco were almost inseparable. They spent every night together in their hidden trunk room, expressing their love for each other, physically, exploring each other's bodies and sensualities. Hermione was struck with how in tune she had become with her body and how much Draco had become an expert in all things sensual. They had both become so familiar with how their bodies reacted to one another, it was almost instinct now.

Halloween brought with it one of the biggest feasts Hogwarts had ever seen. The students had a Hogsmeade trip which Hermione utilised to bring Draco and Harry closer. It worked a little, at least the two were on talking terms. There would, however, be a long way to go before they could be considered friends. However, completely opposite to that, Neville and Draco had begun to hang out a lot, leaving the girls to spend more and more time together.

Hermione was the happiest she had ever been, in the lead up to Christmas. She thought about the previous Christmas and was struck with how irrelevant Christmas had seemed then, in comparison to now. The school was being decorated and the trees were going up all around the place. It was truly the most magical place to be.

Hermione was so captivated by it all that she hadn't made plans to see her family. She felt more and more like she didn't belong, given that after a few letters communicating polite nuances back and forth in the last few months, their communications had come to a stop.

She contemplated going to spend Christmas with Harry, as he had invited her to stay with him, but she knew Harry would be going to the Weasley's and didn't think it was appropriate to intrude.

When classes finished for the year, it was Draco that seemed down about something.

"I have something I need to tell you" he said.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, as they were walking around the lake in the freshly fallen snow.

"I have to go home, just for a few days" he said sadly.

"but… I thought you said your mum was going away?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I thought she was. She has done every year in the past. I guess she can't this year on account of the in-home sentence she has" he said.

"What about your obligations to stay here?" Hermione asked, remembering the terms of Draco's freedom being that he reside at Hogwarts for the school year.

"Well, it seems my mother has been sending some letters" he said, pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"When do you leave then?" asked Hermione.

"McGonagall has set up the floo to take me home before tea tonight" he said.

"TONIGHT? You can't be serious? That's no time at all. I won't even get to see you at Christmas or give you the gift I bought you" Hermione said, suddenly feeling quite upset.

"It's ok, we can write to each other the whole time I'm gone, I promise… besides, I have a gift for you in my dorm that I want to give you before I go" he said, stopping and taking Hermione into his arms.

"well, I guess I've hogged you enough, you need to go and spend some time with your mother. I bet she's been lonely" Hermione said after a few moments.

Draco didn't speak. Instead he slowly released Hermione from his embrace and headed back towards the warmth of the castle.

They approached the dorm common room where they could hear voices and commotion coming from the other side.

Stepping through the doorway unnoticed was an easy feat, as there appeared to be a party going on in the common room and everyone was preoccupied with whatever it was they were doing.

The pair quietly slipped into Draco's room where it was suddenly quiet. The silencing spell that had been cast over their dorms was quite useful and effective over the weeks and they had managed to make it permanent, with the ability to alert them when someone was knocking at the door.

Before too long, Draco was packed and the two lovers were left with nothing to do but say their goodbyes.

"So, will you write to me?" Hermione asked.

"Multiple times a day" he said as he kissed her.

"I hate to sound like a whiny girlfriend, but I'm really going to miss you" she said.

"I'm going to miss you too, but don't they say, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?" he asked.

"I'm not sure how much fonder my heart can get" Hermione said.

At this, Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wrapped box. Hermione stepped back, a little excited and a little bit scared at the same time. She opened it carefully and her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw a beautiful, simple ring with a few little blue diamonds in it.

"Oh, Draco… Its…." She was lost for words. It suited her perfectly. It was simple, yet beautiful.

"It's not…. I mean… It could be… I just… I love you so much, Hermione and someday I will ask you to marry me. I'm certain of it. This ring…" he took the box from her hand and removed the ring from the velvet cushion," …is a promise to you that I am yours and you are mine. No matter what" he said, taking her hand and sliding the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand.

"It's perfect" she said, just before she kissed him. "Now I suppose I'll have to give you yours" she said, stepping away and heading to her doom.

She pulled out the small package from her top drawer and headed back to his dorm, all the while wondering if it would compete with the ring he just gave her.

She handed him the package and he opened it carefully. Inside was a gold chain with a small square locket that contained a muggle style picture of the two of them.

"This is great" he said, swinging the chain around his neck.

Hermione turned him around to do up the clasp and hesitantly observed his reaction.

"It's nothing special, not like mine" she said, looking at the shiny white gold ring that now decorated her finger.

"Are you kidding? I love it" Draco said, pulling her towards him.

Half an hour later, Hermione and Draco were embracing at the bottom of the stone gargoyle. While it was only a short week that Draco would be away for, Hermione felt as though she may go crazy without him by her side.

"You have the parchment?" she asked.

"I do. I will write to you everyday" he answered.

"Good, that's good" she said.

He kissed her softly on the lips before slowly moving towards the entrance to the headmaster's office and ascending the moving stairs.

Hermione headed towards the common room, feeling like she would be losing a part of herself for the next week. She knew how incredibly silly, lovesick and ridiculous she was sounding in her own head, but she couldn't help it. She looked down at the ring he had put on her finger and smiled to herself. She remembered the part where he told her he will ask her to marry him some day and her heart beat a little faster. She had already decided that she wanted to be with him forever.

Back in her dorm, she thought about her plans for after Hogwarts. She would be 18, and old enough to be renting her own place, hopefully with Draco by her side. She made a conscious decision to look at the real estate agents in Hogsmead next time they visited to get an idea of what was available and the prices of things.

She had attended a careers event over the last few weeks and finally made her mind up about what she wanted to do with herself after leaving Hogwarts. She had been advised that the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures was looking for an intern to begin following graduation and upon applying for the position, Hermione was given the job immediately.

Draco's trajectory was not so clear, with a couple of job opportunities on the cards but no real idea of what he wanted to do. Hermione understood that if he wanted to, Draco would never have to work a day in his life, instead, living off his family's wealth. It was a touchy subject for Hermione and she was almost certain that once he revealed to his family who the mystery girl was that he was writing to them about, he would be disowned and burnt off the family tree, much like Sirius was. It was one of the things they disagreed about the most in their fairly easy-going relationship.

Shaking this out of her mind, she glanced at the clock and noticed he had now been gone for two hours. It was tea time in the castle and before she headed down to the great hall, she quickly wrote a message to Draco on the parchment.

 _H- Missing you already_

She folded the parchment and placed it carefully into her pocket as she ran out the doors and towards the hall.

The conversation was lively as the remaining students discussed their family's plans for the holidays. There were not many students left, Hermione assumed that after the war, everyone would want to spend as much time with their family as possible. It made Hermione quite sad, realising that her parents firstly, had no idea of the danger they had been in 12 months prior and they lengths Hermione had gone to keep them safe and secondly, had no desire to be near their only daughter for Christmas.

She attempted to clear her mind and focus on the conversation happening around her but it was tough. She felt the familiar pull of the downward spiral of sadness drawing her in and felt quite silly that just because her boyfriend was gone, it meant that she was drawn to feeling this way. She was never one of those girls, never saw herself as one. But when she thought about it, she was no longer any kind of person she ever thought she would see herself as. She rarely communicated with Harry, never heard from Ron and was sleeping with Draco Malfoy. If someone told her three years ago that this would be her life, she might have punched them, assuming they were trying to curse her. But this was her life, and she was happy in it, most of the time.

Following a huge dessert, Hermione went to her dorm and opened the communication parchment. She had hoped it would work across long distances and she was pleased when she saw that it did.

 _D- I miss you too._

 _H- How does it feel to be home?_

 _D- Foreign_

 _H- How so?_

 _D- Everything is so different_

 _H- Good different or bad different?_

 _D- I'm not sure yet. Mother is acting weird._

 _H- Have you told her about me?_

 _D- I've told her everything about you._

 _H- but…_

 _D- everything but your name_

 _H- and who my parents are_

 _D- she likes you._

 _H- She likes who you've told her I am_

 _D- Isn't that enough?_

 _H- If you are truthful when you say you want to be with me forever, as I do you, I will need to meet her and she will find out eventually._

 _D- To be fair, you've met her before_

 _H- Yeah when I was laying on the floor of your home screaming in agony as her sister tortured me._

 _D- I was thinking of during the battle. You met her then, didn't you?_

 _H- I can't be sure. I spoke to loads of people._

 _D- I am sorry for what my aunty did to you Hermione._

 _H- It's not your fault, we've been through this loads of times._

 _D- I can't even enter that room anymore._

 _H- Don't be silly._

 _D- What are you doing now?_

 _H- reading_

 _D- You're reading the rest of the book without me?_

 _H- You're not here_

 _D- How will I know what happens?_

 _H- I'll tell you. So far, the main character has graduated and the vampires are throwing a party._

 _D- Funny thing about vampires, they always love a good party._

 _H- I'm going to bed shortly._

 _D- As am I_

 _H- Well, goodnight_

 _D- Goodnight Granger. I love you._

 _H- I love you too Malfoy_

Hermione waited, seeing if he would reply, but after a while, she laid the parchment carefully beside her bed, hoping that if he wrote to her, she would see it immediately.

For the first night in months, Hermione slept alone.

She was across a familiar room, but she couldn't place it. It was dark and cold and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She carefully approached a figure who stood at the end of the room with its back to her and tapped it on the shoulder. When the figure turned around, she noticed that it was Draco, and he was wearing his old black suit and a full black cloak that hid his face in a shadow. He didn't speak to her, instead, turned away as she felt herself being grabbed from behind. As she screamed, she turned to see the face of Bellatrix Lestrange laughing back at her.

Hermione woke to the sound of her own screams and sat up breathing heavily. She strode across to open the window for some fresh air but regretted it immediately. It was snowing heavily outside and the cold air rushed in like a slap in the face. She quickly shut the window and got back into her bed where it was warm. She was acutely aware that she was alone, without the warmth of Draco to keep her safe. She glanced at the parchment that was next to her bed and saw that it was blank. She picked it up and wrote a quick message with her wand.

 _H- Missing you now more than ever. Woke from a bad dream. Wish you were here xx_

She sat, hoping that he may be awake too and wishing he would reply, but when her eyelids became heavy, she hesitantly allowed herself to sleep.

The following morning, Hermione woke, dressed and headed out to the common room. She was the only student from her dorms to stay. Everyone else had had gone to spend the festive season with those who loved them. Hermione felt as though the only person who loved her was now waking inside the cold lifeless Malfoy manor.

She opened the present that Harry had sent the day before and was happy to receive a book about all the different kinds of magical creatures that had existed at some point throughout time.

She kept her communication parchment on her as she headed to the great hall and ate with the remaining students and teachers. Most of the tables had disappeared, leaving just one large table in the middle of the room where everyone sat. She made polite conversation, wishing everyone a happy Christmas as they came and went for breakfast. She was desperately bored and lonely and wanted morning more than to just go back to her dorm and spend the day writing to Draco. She checked the parchment under the table and saw that Draco has left her a message.

 _D- I miss you too. Hope your dream wasn't too bad. Merry Christmas beautiful._

Hermione quickly excused herself and hurried back to her dorm common room where the fire had been given renewed life. From an urn that had arrived for the winter season, she poured herself a hot cocoa and sat on the couch ready to spend a day communicating with the one she loved.

 _H- Merry Christmas Draco. What are your plans for the day?_

 _D- Just mother and I today. She hasn't been out of the house to get presents or organise a feast so we're having a simple Christmas lunch._

Hermione felt her heart almost break upon reading this. She couldn't imagine Mrs Malfoy's anguish at not being able to provide a decent Christmas for her son.

The two of them sent messages back and forth for a while and Hermione felt as though he was there with her. She missed his touch, his warmth and his smell so much, but she knew that it was normal to have to let him be with his family. If anything, her desperate need to have him near her was completely abnormal. But then, their whole relationship was abnormal.

The next several days passed agonisingly slowly for Hermione. She communicated with Draco quite a lot but she was incredibly lonely in the almost empty castle. She spent some time with her teachers, revising her class load for the rest of the school year and was confident in her abilities to get through her NEWTS.

When New Year's Day approached, Hermione was excited because she realised the following day she would see Draco again. She woke early and wrote to him telling him she was feeling good and happy that he was coming back but also now ok to have spent a short amount of time apart. She had mentioned to him many times over the past few days, her desire to leave the school and apparate to Malfoy Manor just to see him briefly, but he had assured her that when he arrived back at the castle it would make it more special.

She waited for his reply only for a short while, as it was still early. She was determined to keep herself occupied, so she folded her parchment carefully, placing it in her pocket before putting on warm layers and heading for Hagrid's hut.

She spent most of the day by Hagrid's fire, talking about Care of Magical Creatures class, Harry, school and ever so briefly, Draco. Hagrid made his thoughts quite clear on the matter and expressed that he guessed Hermione had been placed under the imperious curse. It was just another voice amongst many who had expressed similar views and she brushed it off easily.

When Hagrid was busy tending to one of his many creatures after lunch time, Hermione had some time to glance at the communication parchment. She was stunned to see that Draco had not replied to her message from that morning. She initially felt a little disheartened, however after some thought, she assured herself that he was probably enjoying spending his final full day with his mother and decided to let it go.

By tea time, Hermione was starving. Hagrid had her helping with all sorts of tasks that took them right to night fall. Hermione headed for the great hall, accompanied by Hagrid and ate her tea quickly. She wanted to get back to her room to ensure she was completely ready for Draco to return.

She checked her parchment before leaving the great hall and it was still blank. She quickly wrote to him.

 _H- I've had a busy day today. How about you? Can't wait to see you in the morning._

She didn't want Draco to know that she was feeling slightly worried, so she kept her message simple. Arriving back at her room, she spent the next several hours cleaning it and arranging everything perfectly. She knew Draco didn't care for those small details, but she wanted to have everything perfect regardless.

She had finished reading the next book in the series of vampire novels she and Draco had been reading together and felt just a little guilty for it. They had enjoyed reading together in their solitude and while it felt a little odd to be reading it without him, she was desperate for something to pass the time.

Just before midnight, she checked her parchment again and was now growing concerned. Draco had not replied to her all day. It was not like him at all. She wrote to him one last time before attempting to sleep.

 _H- Going to sleep now. Wish I was in your arms. I love you._

She carefully placed the parchment on her bedside and closed her eyes, hoping that she might find some sort of peaceful sleep. It was, as it had been ever since Draco left however. Filled with nightmares of Bellatrix torturing her, torturing Draco and of Draco in danger. She barely slept at all until 4am, plagued by thoughts and images of the life that she tried to forget.

As the early hours of the morning approached and Hermione had finally found a comfortable sleep, she was unable to see a message appear on the parchment.

 _D- I'm sorry Granger._

 **Please review. What might Draco be saying sorry for? Why is he writing to her at 4am? What has been occupying his time?**


	14. The Letter

Hermione woke on the 2nd on January feeling happy and excited that she would be seeing Draco, finally, after more than a week apart. She was a little nervous that she hadn't heard from him the previous day but had brushed it off as nothing.

As she wiped the sleep from her eyes and sat up, she immediately retrieved the communications parchment from her bedside and looked over the words that had appeared. At first, she was excited to see that he had finally written to her, but when she read the words, her concern grew.

 _D- I'm sorry Granger._

She reached for her wand and immediately wrote a message back.

 _H- What are you sorry about?_

As she tapped the parchment with her wand to send the message, the words remained unsent. She tapped it again and again but each time, it failed. She was certain there had been no time limit on the spell she had cast on the two pieces of parchment and the only conclusion she could draw was that something had happened to his piece.

She sat on her bed, trying to figure out what would be the best course of action, but couldn't think straight. A hundred thoughts ran through her mind and she was overcome with concern for her boyfriend.

She dressed quickly and headed down to catch the end of breakfast. She hadn't realised she had slept in. The small group of people in the hall didn't seem too concerned at her flustered appearance. She forced down some toast and eggs while everyone stood to leave and managed to catch McGonagall before she left.

"Professor!" she called, as McGonagall exited the hall.

"Miss Granger?"

"I think something has happened to Draco" she said hurriedly.

"What makes you think that, Miss Granger?"

Hermione briefly explained the situation to McGonagall, including the issue with the parchment.

"Do you have your piece?" McGonagall asked.

Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out her parchment, handing it to McGonagall. The headmaster took the parchment in her hand and waved her wand over it a couple of times. Hermione watched on with intrigue as the professor frowned.

"It seemed, miss Granger, that the other half of this parchment has been destroyed" professor McGonagall said.

Hermione took the parchment from her and stood in stunned silence.

"Now miss Granger, there is no reason to think that Mr Malfoy has come to harm, we will await his return via the Hogwarts express later today" she said, before walking off towards her office.

Hermione stood in the entry hall in stunned silence. She had a million thoughts running through her head all at once and couldn't figure out how to make it stop. The last time Draco had sent her a message was two days ago when he told her he missed her and was expressing to her how grateful he was that she had come into his life.

She attempted to figure out why his piece of the parchment would be destroyed and could come up with no logical explanation that included Draco's safety. She ran through the names of the death eaters that were still at large, in her mind and wondered if any of them would think to attempt to get in contact with Draco and his mother. They were now traitors, after all.

Another though, almost as unwelcome as the previous one came to the forefront of Hermione's mind. What if this is his way of breaking it off? She thought. Perhaps she had come on too strong, been too possessive, too clingy, too overbearing? They had spent so much time together at school, what if he was sick of her? What if he went home and realised he really didn't stop believing the pure blood ways as much as he thought he had?

She was still standing in the entrance hall when the post owls arrived in the great hall adjacent. She was captivated by a midnight black owl and thought for a moment it might hve been Harry's owl, however, when it came closer and headed towards where Hermione was visible throught the great double doors, she realised it wasn't an owl at all, but a Raven.

She shuddered as she realised who owned Ravens for post deliveries.

The Raven landed on Hermione's outstretched hand and held up a leg that contained a small folded piece of parchment. She took it and the bird flew off immediately.

As she unfolded the parchment, she recognised Draco's neat, slanted handwriting.

 _Dear Hermione,  
I feel as though I owe you some explanation, however I feel that nothing I say will make you understand. I was not going to communicate with you further, but I cannot deny the feelings that we shared between us. What I felt for you was, at the time, very real and I apologise for making you fall for me, when I had no expectation that we could continue. I was foolish to think that we could exist as we have, beyond the walls and bubble of the castle. There is no possible way that people like us can make it work and I am regretful, to say the least, that it has come to this. I will not be returning to Hogwarts.  
I do value the gift of happiness that you allowed me to experience for just a short time and hope that you are able to move forward and be happy in your endeavours.  
Best, Draco Malfoy_

Upon reading the letter three times over, Hermione could almost feel her heart break in two. She had been so confident in their relationship and expected that they would be together forever, as he had promised, less than two weeks prior. As tears began to fall from her eyes, she felt her knees grow weak and allowed herself to succumb to the panic that was beginning to rise from some deep unknown place. She fell to the floor quite ungracefully and wept in a ball into the cold stone floor.

"Do you think she will be ok?"

"Yes, I think so. She is in shock I suspect"

"I have never seen her like this"

"Did you read the letter?"

"It was quite formal, wasn't it?"

"Not what I have come to know of him, that's for sure"

"Unless he was playing everyone all this whole time?"

"Surely not?"

"People do strange things to survive, maybe he was looking for the best person to use to his advantage?"

"Harry, there's no way. I've been hanging out with him for weeks now. He seemed so genuine"

"This is Malfoy we're talking about. What if he's just the same as he always was? What if it was all a ploy to hurt Hermione? It has certainly worked, hasn't it?"

Hermione listened to the voices of Neville and Harry talking about her, about Draco, but couldn't force herself to open her eyes. She didn't know where she was or how long she had been out for. The horrible pain in her chest was still so raw and she felt as though a huge hold had opened up in the place where he heart must have smashed into a million pieces.

She sensed, more than heard a third person, but couldn't figure out who it was. She dared not open her eyes, for fear that there would be many questions and theories flying around. The way the third person breathed, annoyingly deeply and loud made her realise that it was Ron who had come to sit by her bedside. At that, she forced her mind to shut down and drifted off into dreams.

She stood in the main hall of Malfoy Manor. This time, she was not being chased or tortured, she was not hunting Horcruxes and most importantly of all, Harry and Ron were not here to save her. She was all alone. She called for Draco, but he didn't come. No one came. The room was so silent and she could neither hear nor sense another person around her. She walked towards where she thought the door might have been but the more she walked, the larger the room became. She tried running, but the walls seemed to move with her, growing further and further away. She called for Draco again and again, hoping that he would come for her, but the voice she heard was not Draco's, it was Ron's.

"Hermione… Hermione, wake up. Hermione you're dreaming" came the voice.

She was pulled out of the dream and rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the bright lights of the room.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in St Mungos" came the voice of Harry.

She tried to sit up, but found that her body was rather weak. Looking around the room, she saw cards and flowers that appeared as though they have been there for days.

"How long have I been here?" she asked, looking to Harry and attempting to avoid Ron's gaze.

"Um…" Harry began, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You've been here for two weeks, Hermione" said Ron.

At this, she sat up and looked around the room, looking for any sign that Draco might have been.

"What happened to me?" she asked.

"I'll go get the nurse" said Ron.

"What's the matter?" asked Hermione.

"Well Hermione, no one really knows. You sort of just collapsed and you were found on the floor of the entrance hall in the castle" Harry told her.

"And I've been, what, asleep? For two weeks?" she asked.

"Well, no one really knows" said Harry, reaching into the drawer beside her hospital bed. "You were holding this" said Harry, handing her the letter from Draco.

"Oh…" was all she could say, as she remembered the contents of the letter. She was beginning to feel slightly embarrassed at being the girl to have a breakdown because of a boy. "I… uh…" she stuttered.

"Its ok Hermione…" Harry said, comforting her. She still felt as though there was a huge hole in her chest and briefly compared herself to the character in the book she and Draco had been reading.

"Has anyone told… I mean, has anybody been in contact with…." She couldn't even say his name out loud.

"I tried to contact him, but he has gone on the run with his mother" Harry said. "Its now a matter for the Auror office" he said.

"Dark wizard catchers? But he's not a dark wizard!" Hermione protested.

"Well, according to the ministry, he is supposed to be on school detention because of his association with dark wizards. He didn't go back, so he is now a risk" Harry said. Hermione thought he sounded different. More of an authoritarian than ever before.

"What happens to him when you catch him?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he went to Hogwarts to avoid Azkaban, so I guess he will end up there" Harry said.

Hermione felt her eyes well up with tears. She couldn't imagine the Draco she had come to know and love rotting away in Azkaban with the people who had actually killed people for fun.

"He hasn't done anything wrong, Harry", she whispered, trying to avoid the tears that were threatening to spill over.

"I know that Hermione, but he wouldn't go on the run for nothing" Harry said.

At this, Ron returned with the nurse, who shooed the boys out of the room before performing some complex wand work over her body.

"Seems like your physically fine" said the nurse. "Except…"

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"You're pregnant"

 **AN- WHAAT?!**


	15. End of Hogwarts

**AN- So, there is a bit of time jumping here, which i usually hate. Sorry not sorry. I feel like my writing is starting to diminish as i progress through this story, so i apologise for typos, mistakes in grammar, story inconsistencies... Just pretend that it all makes sense.**

After a week in hospital, Hermione was now preparing to check out and return to school. She was struggling to come to terms with the revelation that she was pregnant and had not told anyone about it. In fact, she was actively attempting to distract herself from the fact that she would be a mother in just under 9 months, having a baby to a man who had abandoned her.

Her hospital stay was put down to stress and she and the baby had been monitored for several days before being cleared that morning for release. She had all her school work delivered so she wouldn't fall behind and had been provided with as much information as she could handle, regarding self-care during pregnancy.

It would be up to Hermione to decide whether to tell professor McGonagall and obtain permission to leave the grounds for check-ups or have her check-ups done at school by Madame Pomphrey. It had all been too much for Hermione to take in, so she had promised to owl the pregnancy clinic as soon as she had made up her mind.

By the end of the week, Hermione had settled back into the Hogwarts routine and made significant attempts to move on and forget about Draco. It had proven to be quite difficult, as everything reminded her of him. She looked to her bed that was still double the size of a regular single bed and remembered how he had magically enlarged it. She looked to every surface in her room and remembered how he had lifted her up, sitting her on her dresser while he kissed her. She remembered the shock and intrigue of how he had made love to her upon that very surface.

As the weeks rolled into months, Hermione had managed to maintain an outward appearance of coping. She had been to Hogsmead and purchased loose clothing in order to hide her growing belly, although it was still quite small and easy to hide. She had been utilising the Hogsmead weekends to apparate to St Mungos ante-natal clinic for her check-ups and so far, she was physically fine and the baby was growing well. She had still refused to tell anyone other than the nurse and went so far as to disguise herself when she attended her appointments.

While Hermione had come to terms with the pregnancy, it was still a sore spot for her and she would often find herself forgetting that she was pregnant at all.

She had written and destroyed possibly a hundred letters to Draco, letting him know he would have a child that bore his family name, however, she could never bring herself to attempt to send it. Not that she would know where to send it to.

She kept up with all her school work and maintained the perfect grades she had always been proud to achieve. As the end of the school year approached with great haste, Hermione was cramming intently for exams. She was eager to obtain great marks, even though she had a job waiting for her when she finished, she still wanted to do well. She had mentioned to her eventual boss that she may be caring for a family friend's baby during the time period she was working there and they advised her that she would be quite welcome to bring the baby to work with her, providing she could get her job done still. She laughed and thought to herself _I'm Hermione Granger, have you not met me? I can get loads done with or without distractions_.

She had just started to find it difficult to hide her growing bump when exams came around. She found them quite easy, given all the distractions she had during the year. The hardest part was finding an excuse not to drink with the others once exams finished up.

As she exited the great hall with Ginny and Neville, following their last exam, Ginny was excitedly jumping up and down.

"Hermione, please, you've got to come with us to the Hogs Head for drinks" she said.

Hermione had thought long and hard about the eventual discussion she would have to have regarding her limitations. She thought of every excuse under the sun and even contemplated ordering a firewhisky and using magic to turn it to pumpkin juice, but she thought better and knew the time had come to tell her friends of her situation.

"Can I talk to you all in private" she said, as Luna had approached.

"Sure Hermione" Neville said as Hermione ushered them all out into the spring time sun.

She led them to an empty grassy hill where she gestured for the all to sit. She managed to sit, despite her slight discomfort and knowing she will struggle to get up. Once they were all comfortably soaking up the sinshine, she began.

"So, you all know that Malfoy…" she shuddered at the mention of his name, as she had refused to even say it out loud until recently "…and I were quite serious in our relationship about 6 months ago" she began.

"You don't have to talk about him if it makes you uncomfortable" said Luna.

"No, I need to tell you guys this" she said, shaking her head. "So… when I was in hospital, they did some tests to make sure I was ok, you know, physically… Anyway, they found out that… Well… Gosh this is hard… I'm pregnant" she said.

The shocked faces of the surrounding group were enough to make Hermione wish she hadn't spoken.

Ginny's eyes darted to Hermione's belly and widened as if she had realised something.

"You've got a belly!" she said.

"We thought you were just eating a lot because you were sad" said Luna.

"Well, that's true too, but this is mostly just a baby" she said, flattening her school robes so the prominent outline of a baby bump could be seen.

"Why didn't you tell anybody?" asked Neville.

"I felt so ashamed, so embarrassed. I didn't want it to be real and for the longest time, I would tell myself it was a dream… Well, a nightmare. With Draco abandoning me and school to finish, I had so much on my mind, I couldn't bring myself to tell anybody. Even professor McGonagall doesn't know" she said.

There was silence around the group. Everyone seemed to be taking in this sudden news. Hermione was the last person anyone would think would be so stupid as to fall pregnant while still in school.

"I have plans though. I'm still going to work. I've already made arrangements to be able to take him or her to work with me" she said.

"You don't know if it's a boy or a girl?" asked Luna.

"No, it's going to be a surprise" answered Hermione.

"How are you going to get by till then? What about where you will live? What about a crib and baby clothes?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I've been owling my parents asking for money for different things that I haven't necessarily needed and have quite a bit saved up. I have enough to pay a couple of months' rent and buy everything I need for the baby… I'm looking at a couple of places in a few weeks that would be perfect for me and the baby to rent" she said.

"What about Malfoy?" Neville asked.

"What about him?" Hermione asked.

"Are you going to tell him?" he asked.

"That would mean I would have to know where to find him" she answered.

The next couple of weeks went by rather slowly. Hermione felt relieved that she had now told the most important people in her life about her pregnancy and was relieved that when she told Harry, he took the news as well as could be expected.

There is always a tone of disappointment when someone as young as Hermione finds themselves having a baby at 19 and Hermione was her own harshest critic. She quite often found herself attempting to pinpoint where in her life the contraceptive spell may have gone wrong but she thought she was always careful to have the spell active all the time for the moments in between classes where she and Draco found some time for romance.

With the end of the school year just a day away, Hermione had secured herself a 2 bedroom flat in the outskirts of muggle London for a great price. It was a beautiful ground floor flat with a lovely little courtyard and was almost completely furnished. She felt as though she was being given some special treatment because of her part in the 'Golden Trio'. Occasionally she would hear the words being thrown around and despite the flat being part of muggle society, it was owned and leased by a member of the magical community.

She had stayed away from Draco's room since he had disappeared, however she felt it necessary to pack away his belongings. She had forgotten about the trunk that he had designed for her and thought that it would be the best place for her to store his possessions. She first went down the steps to destroy the bed that held so many memories. It was easily done with a simple reducto spell, however, the debris that remained was in the way a bit.

She began by taking his clothes from his dresser and wardrobe and neatly putting it into the cupboards in the trunk room. It was a tremendous effort as it was now half way through June and she was 7 months pregnant. She managed to pack all of Draco's possessions into the trunk in under two hours, which left her a small amount of time to pack her own belongings. She idly wondered what she would do with it and decided it might be best to shrink it and place it at the bottom of her own trunk. It was an interesting feat, shrinking a trunk that had an undetectable extension that was bigger than her own dorm room, but she managed to accomplish it on her first go.

When she finished packing her own things, she glanced around the empty room. It was completely devoid of anything that resembled her life. The room would either close off when she left, or open up to allow a new selection of students live there.

Hermione barely slept that night, which wasn't new. She had incredible heartburn as a lovely side effect of being pregnant and was still plagued by dreams of walking alone through the empty halls and corridors of Malfoy manor. She was relieved, but disappointed when she saw the sun rise after very little sleep. She got up and washed up, dressing before breakfast slowly, hoping it would pass the time.

She headed up to the portrait of the fat lady before going back down for the breakfast leaving feast. She had finally come to accept that the school, the houses, the dorms and even Hermione herself were not the same following the last two years. She thought about all that had changed as she made her way back down to the great hall and throughout breakfast.

Neville, Luna, Ginny and Dean discussed their plans for leaving school and Hermione listened on with sadness. There were so many opportunities that she would miss out on and so many travel experiences and party vacations that she wouldn't get to partake in because she had stupidly trusted Draco Malfoy. As the breakfast came to an end, the owl post arrived. There was not much that day as everyone was heading home. Hermione didn't expect anything to come to her as she had no one outside of Hogwarts to correspond with apart from her parents and they seldom wrote to her now.

While she was observing the few owls drop their Daily Prophets on the tables of those who were subscribers, she almost missed the black bird that was flying towards her. At first she thought it was a Raven, but noticed it more closely resembled Harry's owl. It dropped a carefully folded letter on Hermione's plate and she fed it a strip of bacon before it flew away.

Upon opening the letter she recognised Harry's atrocious handwriting immediately.

 _Dear Hermione,  
I hope this letter arrives in time. We have located Draco and Narcissa Malfoy and are bringing them in for immediate trial. The trial will occur the day after you leave Hogwarts and you are being called as a witness. I understand if you are hesitant to attend, however if you do not, it may reflect badly upon you as an individual and they could even summon you as an involuntary witness. I am sorry that it is such late notice. I will make whatever provisions you need in order to ensure your safety and the safety of your baby. I will apparate to your flat late on the night you leave on the train. There is more information regarding their absconding that you need to be aware of and I think I should be the one to tell you. Please talk to Ginny about this. I have sent her a similar letter and she will be hounding you to talk to her.  
Love, Harry._

She read the letter twice over and looked up to see Ginny watching her, letter clutched in her hand with Harry's familiar scrawl on it.

"They found him…" was all Hermione could say. She was afraid now of what might happen if she was to see him again. How could she hide her pregnant belly from him? She had managed to barely conceal it from the students at Hogwarts only because she wore her robes everywhere, but there was no way of hiding it with regular clothing.

The trip home on the Hogwarts express was not one that Hermione enjoyed. The swaying was making her nauseous and her mind was plagued with questions regarding Draco's last 6 months and a half months.

Upon returning to Kings Cross station, there was no one greeting her, no one to pick her up. No one to ensure she got home safely. She was greeted warmly by Mrs Weasley but there was a hint of disappointment in the way that she hugged her briefly. She didn't glance down at her protruding belly, but Hermione was certain she knew. Ginny hugged Hermione goodbye before heading to the apparation point and Hermione collected her luggage and headed to the same place Ginny had just disappeared from. She thought about the flat that she had seen once and with determination, turned on the spot.

She disappeared into nothingness and when she came to a stop, she was standing in her flat, in muggle London that would be her home and the home of her baby.

The flat was small, but cosy. It had a large living area with a fireplace, that incorporated the dining area and kitchen with two decent sized bedrooms and a bathroom down a small hall. A courtyard was visible through the glass sliding doors in the dining area and consisted of some pavers, a table and chairs and a quaint little garden.

She sat on the couch and placed her hand on her belly. She was now free to remove her bulky clothing and be herself. It didn't matter who saw her now, they would see her in all her pregnant glory.

She was suddenly completely aware of exactly how lonely she was and knew that it would be like this forever. Who would want one of the Golden Trio who had the stupidity to get pregnant to her mortal enemy? Who would take on Hermione and a Malfoy Heir?

She laid down on the couch and shut her eyes, allowing herself to drift into a light sleep. She was woken not much later, by a crack in the courtyard, announcing the arrival of Harry. She sat up, straightening herself and unlocked the door for him to enter.

They sat and spoke about trivial things such as the weather and Ginny and the Hogwarts express before Hermione grew impatient.

"Tell me Harry, what is it? What do you have to tell me?" she asked.

"Malfoy… He's been asking for you. He has refused to talk to anyone till he sees you and Narcissa is claiming they were abducted" he said.

"Abducted?" asked Hermione, her attention now fully focused on Harry.

"There's a death eater, we thought he was dead. We traced him to this little town in the middle of no where and followed him into an old cottage. We took him down, then out of no where out pops Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, dishevelled and like they hadn't seen daylight in months. He was immediately asking for you and demanding to be taken back to Hogwarts but we had to tell him that the school year was over. He was really in a bad way", Harry said.

It took a moment for all of this to sink in. If it was true, maybe Draco hadn't abandoned her. Perhaps he had been held captive all this time? It still didn't explain the letter he sent though. It was clearly in his handwriting.

"Did you tell him? About… you know" she asked, placing her hand on her swollen belly.

"No, I didn't think it was appropriate" Harry said.

"So he's being held now, somewhere secure?" she asked.

"At the ministry. We weren't sure what to do with them. There is a hugely conflicting story, so until they've been proven guilty, we have to assume they're just innocent victims" he said.

"And what if they _are_ innocent?" she asked.

"My guess would be they would receive full pardons. If they have been held captive all this time, well, they've done their time, haven't they?" he said.

"Hmm, I guess so" said Hermione.

The two friends sat in silence for a while, both thinking deeply. Hermione was contemplating her future and attempting to figure out what this all meant. If Draco was just an innocent victim, he would no doubt be hoping for a reunion with her. Could she allow it? Could she put aside everything that she had been through over the last 6 months, the hospitalisation, the lonliness, the hurt, anger and fear? Could she just allow him into her world, into her home, into the life of the innocent child she would be bringing into the world in just a few weeks? These were all things she would have to think about before she saw him the following day, as she would not allow herself to go into this unsure of what to do, in either situation – guilty or innocent.

"Do you have food and things here for the night?" Harry asked, looking to the kitchen.

"I do, the landlord stocked the pantry and the refrigerator before I arrived so I have the essentials" she said.

"You could have stayed with me, you know" he said.

"And have to face Ronald whenever he popped by? His ' _I told you so'_ attitude is enough to make me want to hex him" Hermione said.

"I could have told him to stay away, Hermione" Harry said.

"No, Harry its fine. Honestly. I need to stand on my own two feet, before my two feet become our four" she said patting her belly. "Besides, Ron is your best friend, he should be welcome to visit you anytime" Hermione said.

"Well he does seem to think he can aparate in whenever he fancies. Makes it kind of difficult to be alone with Ginny if you know what I mean. He's interrupted us so many times. Just doesn't get the hint" Harry said.

Hermione cracked a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like forever.

"I bet he hated that. I could even imagine his reaction" she said.

"He disapparated pretty quickly, I must say. Not sure he saw much, but he definitely saw enough to know what we were up to" Harry said with a small laugh.

"Its his sister, im sure he was mortified" she said.

They continued their idle chit chat until Hermione began to feel hungry.

"Do you want to stay for supper?" Hermione asked, not wanting to seem rude if she ate in front of him.

"Oh, no, thank you though. I told Ginny I'd eat at her place. You know how Mrs Weasley is" he said.

"Speaking of Mrs Weasley…" Hermione said.

"She knows" Harry said, looking forlorn.

"Ginny?"

"yep… Ron still doesn't know" he added.

"Well, I suppose I had better tell him then" she said.

"Why don't you come to the Weasleys?" Harry said.

"You're not serious?" she said, thinking it was the worst idea ever.

"I am. I will help you tell them all together and then everyone will know" Harry said.

"I suppose it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to tell them all at the same time" she said.

"I'll go ahead and tell them you're coming and you apparate into the garden in 20 minutes" he said.

Hermione simply nodded, feeling terrified of having everyone judge her. Everybody already knew that she had been in a relationship with Draco, but to be carrying his child. That was completely un-Hermione.

She nibbled on some biscuits as she watched the 20 minutes of the clock tick by agonisingly slowly. She had dressed in her nicest outfit that hid her belly as much as she could. When the second hand of the clock hit the 20 minute mark, she stood, concentrated on the Weasleys garden and spun on the spot. She knew this would be one of the more difficult nights she had encountered in a long time.


	16. The trial

AN- This is it... They will come face to face in this chapter!

Hemione slowly walked towards the door of the Burrow and knocked gingerly. The face of Ginny appeared at the door.

"What are you knocking for Hermione? You're a part of the family, come in" she said.

Hermione entered the home of the Weasleys, feeling anxious. The living room was full of chatter and chaos, as was the norm in the Weasley family.

"Hermione's here everyone" Ginny called above the sound.

Hermione was greeted with various hugs and 'hello's before taking a seat on the sofa beside Harry. Ron gave a half-hearted hello before returning to the game of wizards chess he was playing with George. Hermione looked around and it was so very obvious that there was a massive hole in the family that Fred's absence had created. She couldn't imagine how difficult their year had been, attempting to move forward while grieving so much. She turned and smiled to Harry who was watching her watch everybody else.

"See, nothing has changed" he said quietly.

"Everything has changed, Harry" she said.

"So, Hermione, what are your plans for the summer? Travel? Work? I hear you got a job in the ministry" Mr Weasley said.

"Yes, I have, it's all very exciting. I am starting immediately, so no opportunity for travel just yet" she said.

"Well, I'm sure you will have plenty of time for that later on eh?" he said.

She looked to Harry pleading with him to interject, but he simply nodded for her to continue. She would scold him for this later. He said he would help her.

"Well, maybe I won't have that much of an opportunity to travel" she said, when she sensed a lull in everyone else's conversations.

"Oh?" said Mr Weasley.

"You see, that's why I came here, I have something I need to tell you all" she said, feeling a lump forming in her throat. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to her. She felt the eyes of everyone burning into her skin. This would be incredibly difficult.

"As you all know, I was in a relationship late last year…" she began.

"Yeah with that arrogant git, Malfoy" George piped up.

"Yes, well, he claimed to have changed his ways and we developed some sort of friendship, but that's not the thing I wanted to tell you all. Actually, what I had to say was…" she looked to Harry and over at Ron who was trying not to look like he was hanging on her every word. "I… I'm having a baby" she said, trying to get the words out as quickly as she could.

The room was silent. So silent they could hear the crickets outside and the footsteps of the gnomes running around.

Everyone looked to Hermione and around at each other as if to question the validity of what she had just said.

"I've kept it a secret from everyone since January. I am really only just coming to terms with it now myself. But at the end of September, I'll be having a baby" she said, unconsciously placing a hand on her belly.

The eyes of everyone in the room followed her hand to her belly and there was gasps all around.

"Well, I think it's marvellous, Hermione. You'll make a great mum, truly you will" Ginny said. At this, the rest of the Weasleys joined in various rounds of congratulations and what not.

"So, do you know who the father is then?" Ron asked, when everyone had sat back down.

"Don't be ridiculous Ron, of course its Malfoy's baby" Ginny said.

"Well, you never know with some people, do you" he said.

"What do you mean by that, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I for one know what it is that you want from a man" he said. Hermione stared at him blankly for a moment before realising he was insinuating that all she wanted was sex.

"Are you serious? Are you really accusing me of being a whore?" she asked, raising her voice a little.

Ron just shrugged his shoulders.

"Actually, Ron, Draco and I had been in a serious relationship before he left to spend Christmas with his mother. We promised to be together and I didn't mean to or want to get pregnant, it just happened!" she argued.

"Yeah? And where is the skeezy git now hey?" Ron asked.

"I have no idea. But I bet if he found out I was pregnant, he wouldn't go around accusing me of being a whore! And at least he is man enough to care about his girlfriend while he had her, not abandon her in the middle of a foreign country because she stupidly thought he might actually want to be with her!" she yelled.

"No, he just abandoned his pregnant girlfriend half way through her final year of school, causing her to be hospitalised for a mental breakdown" Ron yelled back.

At this, Hermione slunk back into the couch she was sitting on. She felt as though she had been slapped. She was curing Harry in her mind for failing to help her like he promised. She had come to realise that in just 12 short months, she no longer fit into the Weasley home.

"I'd better go" she said, quietly, as she got up to leave.

"Hermione, dear… For the baby. Do you need anything?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"No, thank you I have money and will be buying everything that this baby needs myself" she said, refusing any offers before they were given. "I'm sorry for the disturbance, Mrs Weasley. I'm sure the meal was going to be lovely" she said before she headed out the door.

She heard Harry and Ginny's voices calling for her and their footsteps running towards her as she neared the edge of the Burrow's wards. She needed to get out of there before she lost the small amount of control she had over her emotions.

She turned on the spot, focusing on her living room and soon found herself standing in front of her couch. Before she took her next breath, she put wards up around her entire apartment, ensuring no one could apparate into it or the courtyard at all. When she was done, she exhaled a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding and crumpled onto the couch letting the tears take over and crying herself to sleep.

Hermione woke the next morning feeling hunger pains in her stomach. She had vowed to take care of this baby, whether it was accidental or not and so far, only one day out of Hogwarts, she had failed miserably.

She headed for the kitchen and ate some dry cereal as she cooked herself some pancakes. It was all a matter of trial and error and she was grateful for the pancake mix that had been stocked in her cupboard. She had just needed to add water and cook the pancakes. It was Hermione proof.

After devouring far too much breakfast, she showered and dressed appropriately or the trial, which she had to remind herself was that day. Unfortunately, the only clothing that seemed appropriate for the trial showed off her pregnant belly tremendously. There was no way it would be mistaken for anything other than a baby. In a way, she was happy. She wouldn't have to tell anyone else, they could just guess. Especially Draco and his mother.

She styled her hair in a smart updo and put the letter that Draco had sent to her in her bag. She figured it may come in handy as evidence. She also retrieved the shrunken trunk of his from her belongings and placed it into her bag as well. If he was found innocent, he may want his belongings back. She also took the ring he had given her on their final day together and placed it into her bag. She hadn't so much as looked at it since taking it off in January. She was certain that she would give it back to him.

She checked herself in the mirror and shook her head when she realised just how pregnant she looked. She shrugged as she focused on the ministry of magic and turned on the spot to apparate.

When she stopped, she saw the familiar hall of the ministry. IT hadn't changed much apart from the obvious statue in the middle. It was now a forever changing hologram that contained images of those who had sacrificed their lives in the battle. She slowly walked past the image of Fred Weasley and surpressed a tear as she headed for the newly built reception desk.

She approached the desk and saw that it was staffed by Padma Patil. She hesitated for a moment before making polite conversation and asking the whereabouts of the trial.

"The Malfoy trial? Oh I bet you're going to be excited to see him rot in Azkaban?" she asked.

Hermione thought for e moment before remembering that the Patil twins were always so cught up in gossip. This was the perfect way to have everybody find out about her.

"Oh, didn't you know? I was engaged to Draco. Yeah, we're having a baby and everything" she said with the largest fake smile she could muster, placing a hand on her growing belly.

"Oh, Hermione. Haven't you certainly changed. What happened to Ron? You two were together last time I knew" she asked.

"He couldn't keep me satisfied if you know what I mean" she said with a wink. She was absolutely certain she would regret everything she was saying just now, but it was the only way she knew of to have the information spread quickly and avoid her having to tell people herself again. She had run out of ways to say ' _im pregnant_ '.

She headed down to courtroom one where she was told the trial was going to take place and hesitated before entering. The room was gradually starting to fill up and the trial was set to begin in 10 minutes. Harry entered through a door off to the side and approached Hermione.

"Listen, you will be called to the witness stand and they will ask you questions. If you want, we can have Malfoy removed before you stand so that he doesn't see… you know…. Wow, did it get bigger?" He said.

"No, that's ok, I want him to see. This shirt kind of accentuates it but it's all I had" she said.

"Right. Well, that's good. I'll be just over there. Remember, you can ask for some time out if you need to. It might get a bit much for you" he said.

"I'll be fine. I'm still me Harry" she said.

"Yes, you're right. How are you after last night?" he asked.

"Now isn't the time Harry. I'm ok. Just disappointed, is all. We'll talk later" she said.

The room filled and as the head of the Wizengamot entered, Hermione stood, as directed. Some people in the room glanced at her in surprise and others hadn't noticed her rounder shape.

The trial began with the chief warlock reviewing both Draco and Narcissa's previous cases out loud before having Draco and Narcissa brought in.

As the door to the holding cells opened, Hermione held her breath, not knowing what her reaction would be to seeing Draco again.

As a tall slim woman entered with hair that was clearly dishevelled but made to look somewhat neat, Hermione gasped. Narcissa had appeared to have lost so much weight that she was barely able to support herself. Where ever they had been, they hadn't been eating.

The thin frame of Draco stepped into the room, supported by Harry. Hermione watches as he glanced around the room, searching. When his eyes met Hermione's, there was a pleading, a longing, almost a begging to them. She watched briefly as he was escorted to the second of the chained chairs. His eyes filled with tears as he was seated and he turned so that he could look at her. She couldn't bare to look into his face. The face of someone who had abandoned her, who had destroyed any sense of happiness that she had built, had lied to her about wanting to be with her.

"Hermione…" came Dracos hushed voice. It was like he hadn't spoken in forever and was saying her name for the first time. She refused to look at him and stared intently at the front as ters formed in her eyes.

"Hermione, please… look at me" he whispered, before being instructed to look to the front. He did as he was told, and didn't glance her way again. She was grateful for that, as she wasn't sure how she would cope, having to stare into his face that had appeared to lost all sense of who he was. The two of them appeared to be deathly ill and quite frail. It saddened Hermione to realise that maybe Harry was right. Maybe Draco didn't abandon her. Maybe he was taken against his will and had been held captive all this time.

The trial began with an overview of the facts. The mention of Draco's requirement to remain at school and the requirement for Narcissa to stay in her home.

Professor McGonagall appeared as a witness, describing Draco's time at Hogwarts as exceptional and saying that he had no reason to leave. She spoke of how he had excelled in all of the classes he had taken during his time there and finished by saying she had no doubt he would have finished with Outstandings on all of his exams.

Following Hermione, Narcissa's housekeeper was called to speak of her time at Malfoy Manor. It had turned out that Narcissa had been learning to utilise some muggle ways of living and taking some short courses via owl post. She had been using her time well and had not shown any sign that she wanted to run away.

Hermione was feeling more and more uncomfortable about the whole thing as the witnesses gave their statements. If it was true, she had just sat back and allowed this dreadful thing to happen to Draco. She had just accepted the letter she received as true, because it was in his handwriting and she perhaps hadn't actually fully trusted him. Had she just thought he was still the same? She was shocked when he had left her, but she had convinced herself over time, that it was just how he was. She had even managed to convince herself that he had been playing a trick on her that whole time. That he hadn't ever actually changed, that he was tormenting her still.

If this was all true, if he had been held captive against his will for 6 months, then he hadn't abandoned her at all.

Next, it was Hermione's turn to speak. She was called to the front of the room and as she stepped down from the audience, there was numerous gasps coming from throughout the room. She heard Narcissa's shocked cry when she noticed Hermione's belly. She didn't want to look, but she could feel the eyes of Draco boring into her.

"Hermione… HERMIONE!" he called. She glanced to him and said nothing, but saw him look down at her belly with fear in his eyes.

Was he afraid that he would have a child? What was he afraid of?

She took her seat in the witness box and cleared her throat, waiting to be questioned.

"Miss Granger, can you tell us your account of Mr Malfoy's whereabouts during the last 6 months?" she was asked.

"I can tell you what I thought at the time" she answered.

"Go on"

"Mr Malfoy and I had enchanted parchments that allowed us to communicate to each other. When he left just before Christmas to spend the holiday with his mother, we were writing to each other daily" she began.

"What were those communcations about?" she was asked.

"Mr Malfoy and I were involved in a serious relationship at that time, so we spoke of things associated with that" she said.

"Like what?"

"We would tell each other we missed one another, Mr Malfoy would tell me he would return on January 2nd, he promised that we would live together after Hogwarts" she said.

"Then what happened, Miss Granger?"

"Well, the day before he was due to return, he sent a final message saying he was sorry. I was unable to reply, so professor McGonagall checked it and said that the other half had been destroyed" she said.

"So what did you do?"

"Well, before I could do anything, I received a letter, via a black raven in Mr Malfoys handwriting saying that he wouldn't be returning and that it was the end of our relationship" she said.

"What happened after that Miss Granger?"

"Well, I had sort of a mental breakdown. I was in St Mungos for three weeks, the first two I was in and out of consciousness, but never really woke up" she said.

"So, in that time, you made no effort to contact Mr Malfoy?"

"How could I? I was hospitalised. And the letter made it clear that he no longer wanted anything to do with me" she said, her voice full of sadness.

"Do you have the letter?"

"Yes"

"Can you read it to us?"

Hermione read the letter out loud, remembering the effects of the letter the first time she had read it, but maintaining her composure. She briefly glanced at Draco as she read and saw that he was wiping tears away, every few seconds.

"And you didn't think to check the validity of the letter?"

"Why would I? It was in his handwriting" she said.

"If it is as you say, Miss Granger, and you and Mr Malfoy were quite serious, then would you not be the least bit suspicious when just two days after promising to be with you forever, he breaks it off, just life that?"

"Of course I was suspicious. I just thought he had been… coerced… into leaving or something like that" she said, looking to Narcissa.

"Coerced by who?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe he told his mother he was in love with a _mudblood_ and she threatened him? Maybe a death eater? I don't know what I was thinking" she answered.

At the mention of the word 'mudblood' the questioner was ordered to move along the questioning.

"What happened when you returned to school after your hospitalisation?"

"Nothing, I went about life as normal. As normal as I could be, at least" she said.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that I was heartbroken and had spent three weeks in hospital for it. It was a struggle to focus on school work" she said.

"Is that all you struggled with?"

"Yes"

"There was absolutely nothing else in your world that was causing you stress?" he asked. She knew what he was referring to but she wasn't going to give it to him like that.

"Not that I can think of" she said.

"Miss Granger, are you or are you not pregnant?"

"I am. But I don't see what that has to do with this trial" she said.

"It's just for the record Miss Granger. Who did you move on with, after Draco left?" she was asked.

"No body!" she said, angrily.

"Not… Ron Weasley?"

"What? Absolutely not!" Hermione spat, furious.

"So who is the father of the child you're carrying?"

"Draco Malfoy!" she said. "Now if that's all, I have had quite enough questioning" she said.

The room was filled with chatter and chaos as Hermione took her seat in the audience.

All eyes were on her as she composed herself to observe the rest of the trial. Next up was Harry who described the manner in which Draco and Narcissa had been found. It was horiffic, hearing him describe the conditions again and Hermione found herself wishing she could go and comfort Draco. The empty space in her heart had not yet healed, but with this new information, it was beginning to fill with thoughts of Draco once more. The idea was disconcerting to Hermione and s Harry spoke, she zoned out, allowing herself for a brief moment to wonder if Draco would be free to become a family with her and the baby.

She was still stuck in her own thoughts when Narcissa was called to the stand.

She was questioned about the things she did in her home while Draco was at Hogwarts and then asked about what happened on new years.

"Draco and I were celebrating the coming of the new year and some unwelcome guests showed up. Some old friends who we no longer associated with" she began.

She named four of the death eaters that hadn't been captured since Voldemort's defeat and went on with the story.

"We were afraid, so we allowed them to stay and share our small amount of food and drink we had for the night. Draco had just told me he was in love with Hermione Granger and we were celebrating not only the coming of the new year but the changing of ways. We were no longer associated with pure blood fanatics. It was a great feeling and Draco was asking to have our family ring so he could propose to her" she said.

Hemrione listened on in shock. He had been so worried about telling his mother about their relationship but it seemed as though it had all gone better than either of them had thought.

"The unwelcome guests forced us into one room of our house while they searched for anything valuable. They said they would be leaving so we just let them go. They had our wands as well, so there was nothing we could do. They eventually discovered the communication parchment and forced Draco to write a message to her, letting her know he wasn't coming back. He tried to overpower them when they gave him his wand to write, but the parchment was all burnt up in the scuffle. Afterwards, they forced him to write a letter, telling him what to say, making it look like we had run off. After that, they took us by apparation to the cottage where we were found. We were fed only when we appeared too weak to stay awake. We were kept in the dark at all times and used an old bathroom when they allowed us…" she stopped for a moment to compose herself.

"What did they tell you they were going to do Mrs Malfoy?" the questioner asked.

"They were keeping us long enough to figure out how to break my husband out of Azkaban so he could punish us" she said,

"Did they say why?"

"We had disrespected the Malfoy name, they said" she said.

"I need Hermione to know… Draco spoke about her all the time. He never stopped, only when he was too weak to talk. He loves her. He really does. Hermione, he truly loves you. You need to let him explain. You need to let him come back to you" she said.

"That's enough. Thank you, Mrs Malfoy, Mr Malfoy, please take the stand" said the Chief Warlock.

Draco stood slowly, clearly still quite affected by the starvation and lack of exercise and sunlight over the last 6 and a half months. He made his way, with assistance, to the witness box. He was paler than ever before and his clothing hung off him as though they were ten sizes too big. Hermione was only now able to see the devastating impact of the last 6 months on his physical state.

He was asked similar questions to his mother and answered them with the same story. It was clear that he had not absconded, he had not abandoned Hermione like she thought. Like everyone thought. He was still her Draco. This realisation hit Hermione like a stab in the chest. Tears flowed freely down her face as he spoke, telling of how he used images of Hermione in his mind to keep him sane, to help him survive. He utilised some of the muggle ways he had learnt from Hermione to survive and to help his mother survive. While his body was weak and his speech was slow there was no denying the strength in his love for Hermione.

"One last thing, Mr Malfoy" the questioner said, when Draco had finished telling his story. "Now that you are aware Miss Granger is having your child, if you're permitted to be free, what would your plans be?"

"My plans? I want to kill those animals for taking away everything that I should have experienced with Hermione. Finding out she was pregnant at the beginning, going to check-ups, hearing the baby's heartbeat, putting my hand on her belly and feeling the baby kick, buying furniture and tiny little pieces of clothing… But I won't. I just want the opportunity to prove to Hermione that I'm serious about her. I want her to agree to marry me. I want to live with her, take care of her and the baby the way she deserves to be taken care of and I want to give her everything. I want to cherish her and never let her go. That's all I want. That's my plans if I am able to go free today" he said.

Draco was escorted back to his seat carefully while the wizengamot deliberated. Draco turned to look at Hermione as he sat, his eyes filled with tears.

"Hermione…" he started. "Hermione, I mean it. I love you, I want to be there for you. I want to be with you and never leave your side. I want to do this with you. I want to be a family" he said, pleading for her to allow him to. She had no idea what to say or do, she simply shut her eyes and allowed the tears to fall freely down her cheeks.

"The Wizengamot has deliberated and we have a decision" the chief warlock declared. "In the case of Narcissa Malfoy and Draco Malfoy, we find they are not guilty of absconding" he said.

Hermione released her breath and opened her eyes. All this time, the last 6 months she had thought he had abandoned her, he truly hadn't. It was a terrible feeling. Maybe if she had trusted him more, she might not have believed the letter her wrote, she might have tried to track him down. If only she had apparated to the Manor as soon as she received it, she might have been able to prevent it all from happening.

"In regards to the prior decision, the unfulfilled punishment for death eater crimes, we find that Narcissa and Draco have served their time and are henceforth, free to go. Aurors, release them to the care of St Mungos so they can receive medical attention" the chief stated.

Harry took Draco by the arm and led him towards he exit, where hermione had entered. She watched, unsure of what to do. Could she embrace him after so long? Had her feelings stayed with her all this time? She figured there was only one way to find out, so she stood and followed the Aurors through the door and out into the corridor.

As she followed the croud, she could hear Draco's voice calling for her.

"Hermione? Is Hermione coming? Is it too late?" he was saying.

"Draco! I'm here. I'm coming" she said, hoping to provide some comfort. As she did, she saw a scuffle ahead and noticed Draco running back down the hall, towards her. He was so unsteady on his feet but he managed to stop himself before he crashed right into her. He stood directly in front of her, just looking at her face, taking in all the she was, before pulling her gently into his arms, careful to avoid squashing her belly too close to himself.

"Hermine, I missed you so much, you have no idea how much I thought about you every single second of every day. I hoped for this day to come, I really did. I just had no idea it would be so full of surprises" he said into her neck as he held onto her. He slowly pulled away, looking down at her belly. He placed his hands over her bump and fell to his knees, placing the side of his face on her belly. As he did this, she felt the baby kick, something she was used to, but it made his face light up like a Christmas tree.

"This is ours" he said, in stunned disbelief.

"This is ours" she said back, pulling him to his feet. She now knew what it was that she wanted, and it was the same thing Draco had said he wanted during the trial. Hermione's heart healed instantly at the feel of Draco's arms around her body once again. She kissed him gently as not to over exert him but he took her in his arms and kissed her back with so much love and enthusiasm, Hermione thought he may pass out.

"Hermione, I need to ask you something" he said, pulling away briefly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Will you marry me, Hermione?" he asked.

"Absolutely, I will Draco. I will marry you" she answered, and she kissed him again before they both headed down the corridor and to the lifts that would take them to the apparation point.

"I meant what I said, Miss Granger" said Narcissa. "We are no longer the pure blood fanatics we used to be. I am happy that Draco has found happiness with you. And although it is a shock, I'm looking forward to being a grandma" she said as they rode in the clunky lift.

Several days later, after many different potions and brews, Hermione was finally able to bring Draco home to her apartment. He was not back to his optimal health, but he was now declared fit and healthy to leave hospital and start his life.

"It's not much" she said as they arrived in the living room. "But its home for me"

"For us" he said.

"For us" she replied as he held her in his arms in their living room, kissing her tenderly.

"What are the rules... you know… during pregnancy?" he asked.

"Well, as far as I know, there aren't any… Hermione answered, assuming he was talking about sex.

"Well… in that case…" he said, as he scooped her up into his arms, "which way to the bedroom?" he asked as Hermione giggled.

He headed through the hallway and entered the room that Hermione had now finished setting up as her own. He laid her down gently on the bed, climbing on and positioning himself beside her but leaning over her to allow him to kiss her. He kissed her lips, her face, her neck. He kissed her everywhere he could reach, before he removed her sweater and he shirt. She was laying on the bed in her jeans and a bra and he ran his hands across her body, feeling every curve, new and pre-existing.

"These have grown" he said, running his hands over the visible flesh of her breasts.

"I think everything has grown" she said.

"You're beautiful' he said, as he freed her breasts from her bra and started removing her jeans.

"Hey, you're still fully clothes" she said as she was now almost completely naked.

"I just want to look at you. I've missed you so much" he said, running a hand up and down her bare legs before removing his own shirt and pants.

He resumed kissing her and he did away with both of their underwear, expertly. He positioned himself on top of her, trying not to squash her belly.

"Its ok you know, the baby is well protected in there" she said, noticing his hesitation.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"I'm absolutely certain, Draco, now make love to me before I burst!" she said, desperately.

He carefully slid himself into her, hoping that he wouldn't cause her any pain. He moved slowly, frustrating Hermione immensely.

She pushed Draco off of her and for the briefest moment, saw confusion register in his face, however, as he laid on his back, she climbed on top of him and eased herself onto his waiting erection. She moved with desperation as her body craved this feeling. She needed this, she needed it to be fast and rough and quick. It wasn't long before she built into a series of intense orgasms, unlike any she had felt before.

She felt him orgasm with her and collapsed beside him on the bed.

"That was quick" Draco said.

"I needed that so badly. You have no idea what these pregnancy hormones do to me" she said. "We can go slow later" she added.

It didn't take long for 'later' to arrive. Within half an hour, Draco was kissing Hermione and they found themselves making slow passionate love late into the afternoon.

It was exactly how Hermione had imagined her life while she was with Draco at Hogwarts. All except the pregnancy, but as time wore on and with Draco by her side, she was able to feel excited about having a baby.

As the weeks went by, Hermione began work at the ministry. They had allowed her to stay right up until her due date and told her to take as much time as she needed to care for the baby.

When September was coming to an end, Hermione woke one morning with pains that came and went. Knowing what she knew of childbirth, this was labour. She and Draco timed her contractions throughout the morning and headed to St Mungos when they were getting closer and stronger.

By the afternoon, Hermione and Draco welcomed a son into the world who they named Tiberius Malfoy. He had a small amount of blonde hair on his head and grey eyes like his father.

Hermione went home a few days later where she, Draco and Tiberius were able to be a family.

Over the coming days, they were visited by Harry and various Weasleys who apologised for how Hermione was treated by Ron. Everyone instantly fell in love with Tiberius who was considered by those in the know, as a placid easy baby. For this, Hermione was grateful.

Hermione knew that Ron would never approve of her life with Draco and that was ok. She would always care about Ron, in the way that he was her friend for 6 years before anything else. She maintained her friendship with Harry, naming he and Ginny as godparents.

Hermione sat up during the late nights, feeding baby Tiberius reminiscing about all the things she had done over the years. She was happy to be finally able to live a peaceful life with the man who would soon be her husband and their baby.

The end 3

 **AN- Well, this is the end. Thank you all for sticking by me. I have given up my Monday to get this chapter done, so i apologise for any mistakes and hope you all enjoy. Please, continue to review and check out my other Fan Fics.**


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